kaz

Spotify just announced a feature that could either save the music industry or destroy it. Starting as early as Q1 2027, Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to use AI to transform any participating artist’s song into a completely different version. Turn a folk ballad into a dance track. Make a hip-hop song sound acoustic. Generate a cover where one artist’s voice performs another artist’s song. Remix a pop hit into lo-fi study music. Create the version of your favorite song that only existed in your head until now. The remixes will be uploaded directly to Spotify. They’ll appear in playlists. They’ll count toward the original song’s chart position. And most importantly the original artist will earn royalties every time someone listens to a fan-created remix of their work. Spotify has already signed a landmark licensing deal with Universal Music Group the world’s largest record label. Negotiations with Sony Music and Warner Music are ongoing. The feature will cost an additional $4–$5/month on top of Spotify Premium. And analysts project 7–8% of American subscribers will adopt it by 2028. This is not Suno or Udio generating music from text prompts. This is fans remixing real songs by real artists with the artists’ permission, on the world’s largest streaming platform, with royalties flowing back to the creators. A music industry analyst who’s covered streaming economics for 15 years told her team something after reading the licensing agreement that reframed how she understood the future of recorded music. “Spotify just turned 640 million listeners into 640 million potential remixers. The question isn’t whether people will use it they will. The question is whether paying artists for fan remixes solves the economics of streaming or creates a world where the original recording is worth less than the infinite remixes generated from it.” Here’s what Spotify’s AI remix feature actually is, who wins, who loses, and why this might be the most consequential decision in the music industry since the launch of streaming itself 🧵

they never tell you about the positives of living under shawarma law

It's actually not surprising at all. The media paints him as an egomaniac but if you actually watched, you’d see he just wants to be a good leader. Kinda like the situation with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and how the media portray him.

The Japanese dub for 'AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY' is going crazy. Multiple actors behind some of the most iconic roles in anime and gaming are teaming up to dub 'DOOMSDAY' in Japan. • Toshiyuki Morikawa (Sephiroth, Griffith in Berserk) as Doctor Doom • Yuichi Nakamura (Gojo) as Steve Rogers • Takehito Koyasu (Dio) as Mr. Fantastic • Kenta Miyake (All Might) as Thor • Yuki Kaji (Eren Yeager) as Sentry • Daisuke Namikawa (Hisoka) as Namor • Rie Takahashi (Emilia from Re:Zero) as Cassie Lang • Yoshimasa Hosoya (Reiner) as Shang-Chi • Showtaro Morikubo (Shikamaru) as Gambit • Maaya Sakamoto (Mari from Neon Genesis Evangelion) as Invisible Woman • Akio Otsuka (Shunsui) as Red Guardian • Subaru Kimura (Sakuragi from The First Slam Dunk) as M'Baku • Yu Hayashi (Mikey from Tokyo Revengers) as Human Torch • Diasuke Hirakawa (Kakyoin) as Loki • Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Ban from Seven Deadly Sins) as U.S. Agent • Kosuke Toriumi (Miss Kobayashi) as Yelena Belova • Hidenobu Kiuchi (Hol Horse) as Ant-Man

Here is my overall analysis of the state of the U.S. Keep in mind this is my first foray into U.S politics. In comparable terms, I'm likely at where I was in 2020 or 2021 as a football nut. —Tariffs are a weapon Trump is using to forcibly reshore American manufacturing. —Trump gave up the midterms to take long-term action on Iran. —El-Sayed is a foreign prince, which means he has a good innate presence everyone can recognize, but compared to American prince-material (Obama/Clinton/Bush), he is a joke. —Democrats have lost the ability to grow and groom charismatic Presidential material. This is likely a result of the corruption of the party from Americanism to Wokism. They are the party of dysgenics now. —Because of this, they are hiring foreign talent: Mamdani, El-Sayed, etc but foreign talent is almost always short and ideologically compromised in a way that completely handicaps them at national level. America won't vote for terrorist-sympathizers. —Republicans have Marco Rubio & JD Vance. They are not charismatically perfect (Rubio is below average height & JD Vance looks like an overly zealous academic nut) but compared to, say, Jon Ossoff, they are blowouts. —It is a big argument but it was worth nuking the senate filibuster to pass the SAVE America act. Getting enough support within the Republican conference and getting the 50 votes required would have been tough but doable. That act could have secured Republican competitiveness in national elections for a generation or two. And a Democrat majority Senate would have been deadlocked by a Republican executive for a while. It was worth the gamble. —Republicans look likely to win the executive branch in ‘28 but Thune probably thought it was not worth giving Democrats a simple majority senate because 1. The Republican own ability to vote party-line was sketchy so it might have been for nothing & 2. Who knows if the Democrats will have a serious Presidential talent emerge in ‘32? Given the dynamics of the executive always losing the congress, that might have given Democrats a full mandate in a post-28’ future. —Democrats have demographics on their side, long term. Republicans have elite human capital on their side, long term. Whites, Jews and likely Asians (in the future). —There is a 3rd secret long-term weapon (revived Christianity that would sweep would-be Democrat voters into Republican voters) but that depends on the Church. —Control of the executive branch could be important to either Party in the AGI era. If AGI unlocks abundance, whoever holds the executive branch will simply claim the credit and hold sway in distributing the largesse. Significant bump. Overall, Republicans can continue to hold the line on demographic change through executive-level immigration enforcement. Significant economic enforcement is difficult to do without Congress and the Executive. Any Democrat presidency would almost certainly devastate American demographics against Republicans in the long-term (e.g, the Biden years). Democrats just need another Biden era in ‘28 or ‘32 to create permanent advantages. Republicans need to hold the Executive office all through until they can find a Congressional pathway solution. The Census would be a further boost for this in ‘30.

There is no Rubio-level politician on the left. Mamdani is not even as charismatic as he is. He is almost certainly going to be an American President. Either in ‘28 or ‘32. Probably the closest thing to an Obama/Trump level character. Take this to the bank.

n00b 4 lyfe

"No Legendaries" Just because you don't want HOF doesn't mean I can't have them

Nicolas Cage confirms that he will star in ‘TRUE DETECTIVE’ Season 5. (via: @EW)

I made a game where you draft your All 22 Pokemon team from randomly rolled Regions and Pokemon Types and the goal is to finish the season 17-0 So far my best record is 10-7 lol all22pokemon.com

If your Letterboxd curve looks like this I’m deadass smacking you