Christopher Leone 🐀

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 🧵

Breaking News: Spire Motorsports suspends Carson Hocevar for Homestead.

A few seconds before we came back on-air we had an audio issue in the booth and I was instructed to step in suddenly and do some solo play-by-play during qualifying from pit lane. Adrenaline was off the charts, but I’m glad I have evidence of this. 😂 First time for everything. @NASCARONFOX

On this day 19 years ago, the internet ordered "None Pizza With Left Beef".

First VORTEX entries are officially IN for every class competing in Thursday's Great Lakes 100 at Bark River! ALL ARE WELCOME to join us for this #iRacing community event, streamed LIVE on the official @iRacing and @MaconiEntrtnmnt channels! REGISTER NOW: forms.gle/AwZaJDJ6hCPaW8yr5

What stadium is this that looks abandoned in Vegas❔