How To Trademark Your Artist Name
Your artist name isn’t just something that sounds cool; it’s your brand. It’s how fans find you, how promoters book you, and how your reputation spreads. So when someone else starts using a name that’s just like yours (or close enough to confuse people), things can definitely get messy. But that’s where trademarking comes in! A trademark is what helps you protect your name (and your brand) while you work hard to monetize your music.
The good news? You don’t need a massive budget to get started, just a little patience and the right info. To help you out, here’s a step-by-step guide to help you trademark your artist name the right way. The sooner you handle it, the sooner you won’t have to think about it again for at least 10 years, giving you peace of mind in an already crazy world.
The settlement between Universal and Udio is a win for musicians everywhere
Last August the three major record labels sued Udio, along with Suno, for what they alleged was copyright infringement on an “almost unimaginable scale”. They presented compelling evidence that Udio and Suno had trained their models on their music, and they said they were seeking “an injunction and damages commensurate with the scope of Udio’s massive and ongoing infringement.” As part of the settlement with UMG, Billboard reports that the two companies will collaborate on a new product, which will let users customise the music of artists who have opted in, and – crucially – only share that music on the platform itself. Indeed, Udio has announced that downloads from its service have already been suspended – you can no longer download tracks generated on Udio and distribute them on streaming platforms.This is hugely important. AI music generators that have been trained on real musicians’ music have been used to flood streaming platforms.
Spotify Accused of ‘Payola’ in Class Action Lawsuit Tied to Discovery Mode Recommendations
Spotify is facing a class action lawsuit from subscribers alleging that its Discovery Mode and curated playlists are a “modern form of payola” that misleads listeners, allowing record labels and artists to pay to promote their music. Filed on Wednesday (November 5) in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit asserts that Spotify’s recommendation tools are merely a “deceptive pay-for-play” program. But the platform misleads users into believing that the recommendations are based on personal musical tastes and listening habits. The class representative in the lawsuit is Genevieve Capolongo, a Spotify subscriber who seeks to represent “millions” of other users who were allegedly misled by Spotify’s recommendation tools. According to her lawyers, Capolongo used Spotify’s personalization features for years, but noticed she was “hearing the same major-label tracks,” which “bore little resemblance” to her actual listening habits.
ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN Announce Alignment on AI Registration Policies
ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN today announced they have each adopted policies to accept registrations of musical compositions partially generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. These works can now be registered directly with the individual societies.
All three PRO registration policies define a partially AI-generated musical work as one that combines elements of AI-generated musical content with elements of human authorship. These works will now be included as part of the full repertories licensed by each society. Musical compositions that are entirely created using AI tools are not eligible for registration with any of the individual societies. ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN have advocated for enforcement of strong copyright laws and staunchly defended the rights of music creators in ongoing debates over AI policy across the U.S. and Canada. All three PROs have endorsed meaningful AI legislation, supported lawsuits filed on behalf of music creators against the illegal use of their work by AI companies around the globe and weighed in on major AI policy initiatives and studies, including those launched by the U.S. Copyright Office, The White House and the Government of Canada, among others.
Why Songwriting is The Fast-Track to Creative Confidence
In an Adobe survey on creativity, it was determined that only four out of ten people describe themselves as creative. This, to me, is a true shame. As human beings, creativity is our birthright and privilege. But just because we’re all creative doesn’t mean we don’t need to nurture our creativity. The keys to creativity are practice and intention and, to that end, there is no better intention and practice than writing songs. The beauty of writing songs is that not only does it reawaken our creativity, but it also builds our creative confidence which has the power to improve all areas of our lives in significant ways. Belief in our creative ability is the key and songwriting can get us there. Of course, there will always be something magical about songwriting. Creating something from nothing is powerful and not to be minimized. That being said, this is a magic that all of us are capable of. Not only “can” we be creative, but we “should” be creative. It’s a reminder of our shared humanity and the depths of our character. The best part is that once we’ve done it, writing a song becomes yet another reminder that we can be creative in all areas of our lives. That creative confidence is absolutely, positively worth pursuing and songwriting can get you there.
Radio is still 62% of ad-supported listening time in the US
Research firm Nielsen has published its latest data on US audio listening habits, based on its survey for the third quarter of 2025.
It found that Americans average three hours and 53 minutes of daily listening across radio, podcasts, music-streaming and satellite-radio services. 64% of that listening time goes to ad-supported audio – and 62% of THAT is still radio.
20% goes to podcasts, 15% to music-streaming and 3% to satellite radio.
“For advertisers planning for audio marketing campaigns, it is important to consider that 82% of all daily ad supported audio time goes to radio and podcasts, while only 15% goes to streaming music services,” suggested Nielsen. However, another research firm, eMarketer, pointed out in its analysis of the stats that radio’s share dropped by five percentage points year-on-year, while streaming’s share grew.
That trend is particularly strong for 18-34 year-olds, for whom ad-supported music-streaming is now 24% of their daily listening time.
YouTube showcases new AI likeness detection tool
Artists and celebrities worried about AI-generated deepfakes of themselves can take a little comfort from YouTube, which has begun rolling out a detection tool for AI-generated likenesses of people.
The video streaming platform has been developing the tool in partnership with Creative Artists Agency, suggesting that one of its functions eventually will be to recognize celebrity
deepfakes. However, for now the tool is limited to a specific set of creators with YouTube channels, and will be rolled out to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program in the coming months. The tool is similar to YouTube’s Content ID system, which scans the YouTube library for copyrighted content in order to compensate rightsholders. The deepfake detection tool works on the same principle, but seeks to detect recognizable faces used without permission.
AI...my
take (Bill
Green)
Just
my take on AI, but over the next decade it is estimated
that, in the US alone, approximately 100 million jobs will
be lost to AI. But...I also read that roughly 80
million jobs will be created (net -20m). Of course if I were
in the AI business or an investor, I would say the same
thing. As I try to digest this, I look back to see how
many jobs were lost to automation and never returned in the
past 75 years. Jobs in the auto manufacturing
industry, banking, telecommunications, textile, printing,
proof reading, copyright editors, and more were lost, and
the list goes on. In the U.S. just since the year
2000, almost 2 million jobs have been replaced by computers
alone, and the trend is growing exponentially with the
development of AI. Those who got computer science degrees
and coding, have been or will all be replaced by AI, and the
list continues. Bank tellers, retail cashiers,
data entry clerks, and other desk and white collar jobs will
be 'history' in the coming 10 years. Now, on to
the music biz. In the past 50 years, services
and jobs have been slowly stripped from every aspect of
music business including studio production (movies and
soundtracks), distribution, manufacturing, publishing,
licensing, voice-overs, narration, and again the list goes
on and the slide continues. Today, you can have a song
completely written and tracked within about 60 seconds using
AI services. The entire music industry is succumbing
to technology and millions of musicians are being replaced
daily. Change is always inevitable, but change is not
always good. We all have been seduced with
technology...."I want it now", and "it makes
my job easier". With streaming and computerized
recording technology (including AI) music has basically
exceeded the 'supply and demand' quota. More music is
being released to streaming platforms (including 30% AI)
than there are consumers, causing the worth of music to
drastically decline. Nowadays, practically anyone can
write and recording a song, with the help of AI, and release
it (following AI licensing guidelines). Call me old
fashioned, but I was taught that anything worth while takes
time and effort. Technology has basically removed
critical thinking and work ethic, and is replacing it with
millions of people who cannot do simple math equations,
write a basic grammatically correct sentence, or know the
fundamentals of history or government. As technology
continues, so does government control. Think about it, don't
just take my opinion. We are all living in a
very strange time. I hope and pray that I am
wrong!
What Makes Mastering for Vinyl and Digital So Different?
Imagine listening to your music — not through earbuds — but spinning on a turntable. It’s warm, it’s textured, it’s alive, and it’s exactly what you get when you go from waveform to wax. Making the leap from digital to vinyl isn’t just cosmetic — it means a wholly different mastering approach. Here’s why that’s necessary, and here’s how each path shapes the final sound you hear.
Mastering engineers customize the final audio based on the playback medium. With Disc Makers’ vinyl mastering process, that means building the process around the physical mechanics of the vinyl groove: bass-heavy content needs to be tamed, stereo must be collapsed at low frequencies, and dynamics must be managed tightly so that the cutter head doesn’t skip or clip.
Digital mastering, on the other hand, is optimized for CD, streaming, and digital convenience. There are no groove constraints, but options for loudness and precision such as: Handling bass, stereo, and groove constraints and Dynamics and loudness. When it all comes together, what are you really hearing? Vinyl offers mid-range warmth, gentle highs, and natural compression thanks to the physics of the grooves themselves. High-end sounds may feel softer with the bass more rounded with a slightly narrower stereo sound. Digital offers a wider dynamic range, sharper stereo separation, and bright, crispy highs. It’s also often louder, clearer, and more transparent-sounding.
So there’s really no answer to the question of “which is better?” A well-mastered digital track sounds polished and precise. It takes advantage of the full spectrum of sound. A well-mastered vinyl feels more immersive and organic. Both have their value and both have their place.
Suno and Udio face another lawsuit from indie artists over AI training, echoing major labels’ stream-ripping allegations
AI music generators Suno and Udio have been hit with another lawsuit filed by independent artists in Illinois, alleging the companies trained their models on copyrighted recordings without authorization.
The complaints, each spanning roughly 100 pages, were filed by plaintiffs including indie R&B band Attack the Sound, father-son songwriting duo Stan and James Burjek, and members of Chicago group Directrix. They also accused the AI firms of flooding the market with substitute tracks that decrease licensing opportunities.
The lawsuits join earlier legal actions from major record labels and country musician Tony Justice targeting Suno and Udio. The lawsuits read: “Suno/Udio obtained many of the copyrighted sound recordings in its training set by illicitly downloading them from YouTube using ‘stream-ripping,’ a well-known method of music piracy.”
