It’s not just conferences that have been going on, and following the report on SelfPubCon we’ll have a short break before recapping Frankfurt. Neither Spotify nor AI has disappeared from the news. In fact, they appear in the same story.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
Spotify and several record labels have joined forces to develop what the company calls “Artist-First AI Music Products.” What does that mean? The press release includes plenty of nice-sounding language about artistic choice and asserts that “Musicians’ rights matter. Copyright is essential.”
What this means for AI tools is largely that artists will be allowed to opt in or out. The nature of these tools varies widely, though. A statement about allowing artists to choose whether to participate in generative AI feels like it could use more clarification, while others—especially those around discovery—seem less controversial.
The most interesting section, though, might be this one:
“Fair compensation and new revenue: We will build products that create wholly new revenue streams for rightsholders, artists, and songwriters, ensuring they are properly compensated for uses of their work and transparently credited for their contributions.”
This sounds like a form of licensing payment. TechCrunch speculates that it might involve detecting whether an artist’s work has been used by generative AI and diverting remuneration accordingly. It’s something to keep an eye on—especially because it feels very relevant to writers.
Spotify’s Audiobook Growth
Meanwhile, Spotify is celebrating two years of offering audiobooks to Premium subscribers. In its anniversary report, the company highlights some impressive numbers: a catalog of 500,000 English-language titles, an audience where more than half of listeners are in the 18–34 age bracket, and—most interestingly—a finding that since introducing flexibility in its Audiobooks+ plans (allowing additional purchases through the plans), users have increased their audiobook listening hours by more than 18 percent.
In other words, the ceiling on people’s desire to listen to audiobooks might be higher than we thought—especially when listening is made easier for them.
Audiobook Selects and New Indie Opportunities
As well as looking back, Spotify is also looking forward with the launch of Audiobook Selects, a new platform for indie authors.
If you recall, a few months ago Spotify invited submissions of short-form stories from indie authors. Audiobook Selects is the program that will publish the 16 winning stories on November 4.
And on the very same day, November 4, submissions will open for the next cohort of indie-authored short stories. There are a few changes this time: the accepted length has expanded from 10,000–20,000 words to 10,000–40,000 words. While the first call focused on crime, sci-fi, or romance, this round’s theme is firmly centered on romance.
The official call states:
“The theme is ‘swoon-worthy tropes.’ Authors are encouraged to submit novelette-length stories (10,000–40,000 words) that creatively explore romance tropes like ‘friends to lovers,’ ‘grumpy/sunshine,’ and ‘only one bed.’”
Good luck to all!
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