Universal Music Group NV is partnering with Nvidia Corp. to boost the role of artificial intelligence in music discovery and creation, as record labels seek to capitalize on the fast-growing technology while managing the risks AI poses to their catalogs. The collaboration between the world's largest record label and the leading AI chipmaker is the first of its kind, Universal said.
My habit of seeking out new music began with a few strokes of good luck. I grew up in a college town in the early to mid-nineties, during one of the golden eras of college radio. I spent a significant portion of my time with my ear pressed against a cheap hand-me-down AM/FM boom box, dialling through forests of static until I found a coherent tune from one of the stations broadcasting out of Ohio State University or a smaller school nearby.
How do we discover new music? It used to be mostly through friends, record stores, and radio. Now, friends, some radio stations, and music platforms still play a role. Spotify's annual wrap-up is an ideal time to see what new music has reached our ears. The European Union is funding a project to audit algorithmic music discovery because it believes there may be bias and a lack of transparency in this process.
It is 20 years since Guitar Hero was launched in North America, and with it, the tools for the everyday gamer to become a rock star. Not literally of course, but try telling that to someone who has nailed Free Bird's four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience. Developed by Harmonix, published by RedOctane and inspired by Konami's GuitarFreaks, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller with which to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song.
Fans are continuing to change the tune of how they consume music. It was recently reported that MTV was going to stop broadcasting five channels, including MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live in the United Kingdom, and that the channels would go dark the end of this year. (Its flagship channel, MTV HD, will continue to air reality series.)
AM radio has long been a trusted source of emergency information, providing real-time updates when other communications platforms fail. Recent disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires and hurricanes in the southeast underscore AM radio's unique role in delivering evacuation orders, emergency alerts and recovery information under the most challenging conditions.
