Audible Magic's Broad Spectrum: detecting transformed audio
Speeding up...
Social media creators and DJs love to put their own spin on released recordings, and one of the simplest ways is to speed up a track. Speeding up turns a slow tune into an uptempo dance number, and faster music hits the hook or chorus more quickly. The current trend on TikTok, where all pop songs seem to exist only in their sped-up versions, has caused record labels and artists across the spectrum to release official speed ups to capitalize on this phenomenon†, from Benson Boon's Beautiful Things, Iñigo Quintero's Si No Estás, and Tate McRae's Greedy, to Lizzy McAlpine's ceilings, which achieved hit status almost entirely due to the unofficial and official sped-up version on TikTok:
and slowing down...
But altering recordings is not new. In the early days of hip hop, DJ Screw and others reversed the above, slowing down tempi to 60-70 beats per minute to create a mellow, bass-and-lyric-heavy grooving laid-back version of what was normally uptempo music. In the 2000s, Nightcore did the opposite with Eurodance, speeding the tempo up to 160-180 beats per minute, chipmunking the vocals into a happy hardcore style of club music. And DJs as a matter of course beat and pitch-match tracks to keep the energy level or to avoid a jarring change of key. The ability to make these alterations has been democratized by the availability of easy-to-use tools, meaning that anyone with a phone or a computer can produce altered recordings to suit any creative impulse.
and changing the key
That being said, sometimes alterations are done for completely pedestrian reasons. Since at least the 1950s, radio stations have played music faster to fit in more discs per hour and also more commercials and, more recently, uploaders who wanted to bypass content ID systems have been tempted to change the sound just enough that it isn't noticeable to the average listener, but to get it past the automatic filters. Or, in this case of this Weezer track, pitch shifting up a semitone so that guitarists don't have to retune to play along:
The solution: Broad Spectrum
But in all these cases everyone wants correct attribution and, especially where there are royalties due, for the money to go to the proper artists. Audible Magic's standard Audio ID system was designed from the beginning to easily handle pitch shifts and time scalings in the range of a few percent, in addition to resistance to ambient noise, EQ and other channel effects. To identify audio that has been altered beyond that - including modifications far beyond what we see in the wild - customers use our Broad Spectrum service.
Designed to tackle the complex issue of manipulated music, Audible Magic's Broad Spectrum is a significant advance in content identification technology. Unlike most Audio Content Recognition (ACR) systems, Broad Spectrum employs an innovative approach to detect alterations. It gives platforms the confidence that they will be able to identify and attribute content correctly, and also ensures rights holders' content is treated according to their license agreements.
While monitoring what is identified by our system, we see that as much as 50% of the music on UGC platforms is transformed in pitch and/or tempo. While small alterations are more common, a significant number are altered by 20% or more. The current trend at TikTok and other platforms is clear in the data: about 4x more of those with larger alterations are sped up vs slowed down. And changes to pitch alone, while they occur, do not occur as often as playing the music faster or slower, either with or without changes to pitch.
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has provided B2B solutions in content identification (both music and TV/Film), music catalog fulfillment, and rights administration. Audible Magic powers billions of monthly transactions to serve customers all around the world. Its music identification services are used to help reduce the number of DMCA takedown notices and administer licenses for user generated content (UGC). Broad Spectrum is one of many technological innovations we have pioneered. Contact us to learn more.
– Erling Wold, Chief Scientist and Technologist
† more examples:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4sQRT2zDzaMk92Fw75TZHn
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX0h2LvJ7ZJ15
Maximize the Value of Licensed Music
Our everyday online experiences would not be the same without music as a backdrop. Whether it is another dance challenge on a social network, the latest concert on a gaming platform, or a challenging online spin class, these experiences are better with music.
The market is experiencing a convergence of services as platforms strive to capture users’ attention and build a community. In this dynamic online market, we see platforms changing formats from short-form to long-form content, offering experiences such as live-streaming concerts that are beyond their original mission and expanding into new territories as their user base grows. Music use is converging with social media platforms now licensing music while music streaming platforms are enabling UGC uploads.
As a key part of a platform’s offering, a music catalog becomes an important asset and is integral to a platform's current and future success. There are several steps that will help a company maximize its catalog.
- First, a platform will want to clear as many tracks as possible.
- Second, the company will need to monitor music use to identify usage trends and understand what additional music, such as a new genre, it may need.
- Finally, a platform will need to build strong relationships with rightsholders by consistently meeting contractual obligations.
The mechanics of managing a catalog can be complex. While some platforms keep catalog management in-house, most turn to vendors for assistance.
Key Hiring Decisions: Identification, Fulfillment and Rights Administration
Once a platform obtains licenses, whether for user-generated content, fitness, gaming or music listening, the next critical phase is to hire one or more vendors to enable the mechanics of the licenses, and power the music experience for the end-user. This includes the identification of songs to know which tracks are allowed or not in UGC uploads (Identification); the delivery of cleared, licensed music to the end-users (Fulfillment); and the tracking, reporting and royalty payments for use of licensed music (Rights Administration).
Hiring these vendors is a crucial step that can impact:
- The breadth of music available
- Building trust with labels, publishers and CMOs, especially timely and accurate royalty payments
- Quickly expanding territories coverage for the service
- Ensuring new releases are quickly cleared and available
The Advantage of a Single-Vendor Solution for Fulfillment and Rights Administration
Platforms often use multiple vendors. This solution can work. However, there is an advantage to using a single vendor with established relationships that is responsible for both receiving and reconciling multiple data streams from unrelated data sources including labels, publishers, PROs, and CMOs; and traversing the complexities of tracking, reporting and payments.
For UGC-hosting platforms, having an identification vendor along with fulfillment and rights administration in one vendor adds to the ease of managing data, reconciliation, reporting, and payment.
If there are issues clearing tracks, site owners will avoid having to coordinate between multiple vendors to find a resolution. A delay or lack of resolution may result in fewer tracks being available to end-users and the challenge of reconciliation and clearance only increases as a platform’s catalog grows and expands into new territories.
Insights into the Catalog
A strong vendor will also provide insights into the constant changes that happen with a catalog at the operational delivery and the business level, including new songs, restricted artists, and territory changes. Offering additional insights like providing a list of new releases that are relevant to the platform’s end users.
Finally, an experienced rights administrator will produce accurate and timely reporting to meet each rightsholder’s requirements across multiple territories and parties. This solidifies a positive working relationship between rightsholders and the platform and sets the stage for future licensing opportunities.
Audible Magic Offers a Suite of Integrated Services to Manage Music
- Licensing Support – Understand what is cleared and not cleared
- Fulfillment – Deliver cleared music to your platform now
- Content Identification – ID and track music on your platform
- Royalty Administration and Payment – Report royalties and pay labels, publishers, CMOs and PROs
Contact us to learn more about how we offer a single vendor solution for managing music on music-hosting platforms.
Bolo Indya Partners with Audible Magic to Manage Licensed and Unlicensed Use of Music
New Delhi, 21 July, 2021: Bolo Indya, India’s first home-grown and most preferred social live-streaming platform, announced that it has partnered with Audible Magic, the leading provider of rights management and identification solutions. The partnership allows Bolo Indya to proactively manage both occurrences of licensed and unlicensed copyrighted media on their site.
Bolo Indya needed an identification service known for accuracy, ease of use and offered an extensive registry of music from around the world, including native music. Bolo Indya worked with Audible Magic to quickly deploy the scalable identification service to respond to the explosive growth in live streaming and short-form videos on their site.
Commenting on the development Varun Saxena - CEO and Founder, Bolo Indya said: “We are committed to providing industry-leading copyright solutions for user-generated content on our platform. This expanded solution will use Audible Magic’s robust technology to support the compliance and licensing of user-generated content on our platform. We are delighted to partner with Audible Magic to help us achieve our goal.”
Bolo Indya is the first of its kind indigenous live streaming platform and is off to a blazing start with a new redemption method, dual live streaming, and other features. Bolo Live, the live streaming capability by Bolo Indya has been embraced by many renowned organizations and personalities since its launch. In the past few months, the platform has witnessed some special moments on Live, including informational talks about COVID-19 by health experts, Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi talking to thousands of viewers through MannKiBaat, Ministry of AYUSH hosting International Yoga Day Live on Bolo Indya, interviews with celebrities, and record-breaking viewership.
Audible Magic provides proven solutions for platforms to protect their brand’s reputation while using music in user-generated content, streaming, radio, and downloads. Platforms can speed time to market by avoiding building the extensive systems needed to identify content, manage licenses, and ensure they meet their reporting and payment obligations.
Vance Ikezoye, President and CEO at Audible Magic: “We are pleased to help Bolo Indya to identify licensed and unlicensed use of copyrighted music proactively. The partnership leverages our strength in content identification technology, coupled with the trust we’ve built with rights holders.”
About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has innovated solutions to identify content, provide fulfillment solutions, manage rights, and monetize media. Audible Magic’s Emmy-winning automatic content recognition (ACR) technology powers billions of monthly transactions. The Silicon Valley pioneer is the trusted intermediary between major platforms and rightsholders (including labels, studios, distributors, publishers, and collectives). The company works with a wide range of platforms and rights holders, including Facebook, Twitch, SoundCloud, Dailymotion, Vimeo, NBC Universal, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, The Orchard, CDBaby, and DistroKid. For more information, visit audiblemagic.com .
About Bolo Indya
Bolo Indya is the fastest-growing social live streaming platform. Bolo Indya stands unique as it works towards empowering the next billion internet users of India, by allowing them to transform their social capital and virality into financial independence by unlimited earning every month. It brings to the table the amalgamation of short videos, local languages, UGC as a driver, and Passion economy as the fuel for empowering the internet users of Bharat, taking the penetration of peer-to-peer financial transactions to tier 2 and tier 3 cities of India.
The Bolo-Live streaming feature comes with an integrated real-time gamification in the form of a gifting option where creators can be rewarded by their follower base basis the content quality, density as well as engagement which can be redeemed in cash on the Bolo Indya platform.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding Audible Magic’s Acquisition of MediaNet’s Business
On Monday, January 11th, 2021, Audible Magic and SOCAN announced that the companies had entered into an agreement to transfer SOCAN’s content fulfillment and rights administration business to Audible Magic.
Understandably, many content partners and customers of both MediaNet and Audible Magic have questions about what this means to their day-to-day interactions and services they may have been receiving from each company. We hope that the information below will provide some guidance, but always, feel free to reach out to us for further information. Both teams remain fully committed to our content partners and customers.
When does this acquisition go into effect?
The acquisition will be effective as of January 6, 2021.
Why is Audible Magic making this acquisition?
This acquisition enables Audible Magic to offer a unique one-stop-shop solution for digital service providers and UGC hosting platforms looking to manage copyrighted content. Audible Magic will be able to offer licensing, rights management, and royalty administration as well as industry-leading content identification services.
What are the benefits to Audible Magic customers?
Current Audible Magic customers will now have access to a full suite of content management services including licensing, rights management, royalty administration, and media fulfillment.
What are the benefits to MediaNet customers?
MediaNet customers will gain access to the gold standard in content identification services so important for accurate attribution of copyright, licensing, rights administration, and reporting.
Will there be any changes to the services provided to MediaNet or Audible Magic customers?
Both Audible Magic and the MediaNet teams remain committed to all existing customers with the same level of support.
Are there changes to my contacts at MediaNet or Audible Magic for business or technical issues?
We do not intend to change your primary business contacts currently. If you do have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]
Will there be changes in how content partners should deliver content feeds?
There will be no immediate changes in how a content partner sends feeds to either Audible Magic or MediaNet. However, we will be looking into options to make the process easier for our content partners moving forward.
Will there be any changes to the processing of royalty payments or accounting reports?
The processes currently in place will continue as before the acquisition. As the two companies merge, we will be looking for opportunities to provide improved processes to benefit our content partners and customers. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].
Are there changes planned to MediaNet customer billing and invoicing for services?
Yes, invoices will be issued with an Audible Magic logo starting in January. You will have access to your invoices and statements via an online portal. You will receive a link via email to set up your account within the portal, as well as a user guide for questions and assistance. Remittances should be made per the instructions on the invoice.
Audible Magic Acquires MediaNet’s Business from SOCAN, Integrating UGC & Premium Music Solutions
Audible Magic to offer “one-stop-shop” for music licensing and copyright compliance
Los Gatos, Calif. – Jan. 11, 2021 – Audible Magic and SOCAN announced the companies have entered into an agreement to transfer SOCAN’s content fulfillment and rights administration business of MediaNet to Audible Magic. Audible Magic is the leading provider of identification and compliance solutions to social networks hosting user-generated content (UGC). SOCAN is the Canadian performing rights organization. MediaNet has a long history of delivering turnkey white label digital music solutions for Internet radio, subscription music services, on-demand streaming, and support for fitness and gaming applications. With this acquisition, Audible Magic can now provide digital platforms a comprehensive range of services to enable and manage the use of music.
Audible Magic provides solutions for music licensing, content identification, and rights management to social media platforms. This acquisition extends its capabilities to deliver bespoke licensing from hundreds of labels and publishers, media files for more than 92 million tracks, full rights management, and royalty and payment administration. This portfolio of services will enable social platforms to more easily exploit the opportunity for both music in UGC and premium content. According to a recent MIDiA Research report, The Rising Power of UGC, there is a projected $6 billion opportunity in the appropriate use of audio and video for streaming of music in UGC alone.
“Rightsholders and platforms will both benefit from our combined solution and will reduce the time and complexity of managing and paying for the use of music,” said Vance Ikezoye, Audible Magic chief executive officer. “We see significant upside in enabling incremental revenues for the music ecosystem.”
SOCAN and Audible Magic also announced they have entered into a strategic partnership with the goal to use Audible Magic technology and services to help SOCAN improve operational accuracy and reporting to publishers and songwriters.
“The acquisition of the MediaNet services by Audible Magic creates long-term benefits for SOCAN’s members and clients,” said Jennifer Brown, Interim CEO of SOCAN. “Audible Magic is a knowledgeable and skilled company and we’re looking forward to working together to improve the accuracy of reporting to publishers and songwriters.”
SOCAN acquired Seattle-based MediaNet in 2016. By legal agreement, terms of Audible Magic's acquisition are confidential.
About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has innovated solutions to identify content, manage rights, and monetize media. Audible Magic’s Emmy-winning automatic content recognition (ACR) technology powers billions of monthly transactions. The Silicon Valley pioneer is the trusted intermediary between major platforms and rightsholders (including labels, studios, distributors, publishers, and collectives). The company works with a wide range of platforms and rights holders, including Facebook, Twitch, SoundCloud, Dailymotion, ShareChat, Vimeo, NBC Universal, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, The Orchard, CDBaby, and Distrokid. For more information, visit https://www.audiblemagic.com/.
About SOCAN
SOCAN is a rights management organization that connects more than four-million music creators worldwide and more than a quarter-million businesses and individuals in Canada. More than 160,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers, and visual artists are its direct members, and more than 100,000 organizations are Licensed To Play music across Canada. With a concerted use of progressive technology and unique data as well as a commitment to lead the global transformation of rights management, SOCAN is dedicated to upholding the fundamental truths that music and visual arts have value and creators and publishers deserve fair compensation for their work. For more information: www.socan.com.
Contact:
Adriana Saldaña
Sterling Communications for Audible Magic
+1 408-395-5500
Innovative Music Licensing Frameworks Will Be Key To UGC-Powered Music Expansion - Forbes
“Traditionally many people look at UGC as a promotional tool used to generate demand for music, says Audible Magic founder and CEO Vance Ikezoye, who has more than 20 years of professional experience in the music industry. “But it’s really a new form of content with big potential for platforms and content owners…people go to TikTok, not for the music, but for the creativity and creation opportunity.”
Read the full article by Forbes here.
ShareChat taps Audible Magic for copyright-spotting tech - Music Ally
Indian social media company ShareChat has become the latest customer for Audible Magic’s rights management and content recognition tech.
It will be used to “proactively address both licensed and misuses of copyright media” on ShareChat’s app, which has more than 160 million monthly active users.
Read the full article by Music Ally here.
ShareChat Partners with Audible Magic to Manage Licensed and Unlicensed Use of Music - Yahoo News
Sharechat, India’s largest Indian social media platform, announced it has partnered with Audible Magic, the leading provider of rights management and automatic content recognition (ACR) solutions. ShareChat chose Audible Magic for its comprehensive reference registry containing over 40 million registered works representing global and local music from across the world. Audible Magic is considered the gold standard for content identification and will enable ShareChat to proactively address both licensed and misuses of copyright media.
Read the full article by Yahoo News here.
ShareChat Partners with Audible Magic to Manage Licensed and Unlicensed Use of Music
Los Gatos, Calif. – Nov. 9, 2020 – ShareChat, India’s largest Indian social media platform, announced it has partnered with Audible Magic, the leading provider of rights management and automatic content recognition (ACR) solutions. ShareChat chose Audible Magic for its comprehensive reference registry containing over 40 million registered works representing global and local music from across the world. Audible Magic is considered the gold standard for content identification and will enable ShareChat to proactively address both licensed and misuses of copyright media.
“With a growing community of users and the large volume of fresh new content created every day, ensuring copyright protection is an important goal at ShareChat,” said Berges Y. Malu, ShareChat director. “With the addition of Audible Magic’s audio fingerprinting technology and their expertise in automatic content recognition solutions, we look forward to a partnership that will help us achieve our goal.”
ShareChat is a first of its kind language-focused social platform for emerging markets with more than 15 languages currently supported. With a community of more than 160 million monthly active users who generate almost 2 million content posts daily, the platform is the largest repository of Indian language content.
Every month, Audible Magic searches billions of files looking for copyright content registered by over 140,000 record labels and music publishers. Its comprehensive reference registry contains tens of millions of registered works representing music from over 150 territories, with hundreds of thousands of new tracks added each month. Search results operate on files as short as five seconds and typically complete in one second or less, with virtually zero false positives, which is key to scaling, automating, and ensuring a smooth user experience.
“We are pleased to help ShareChat proactively identify authorized and unauthorized use of copyrighted music,” said Vance Ikezoye, president and chief executive officer at Audible Magic. “ShareChat is a great example of a platform that strives to be a good partner with the music industry.”
About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has innovated solutions to identify content, manage rights, and monetize media. Audible Magic’s Emmy-winning automatic content recognition (ACR) technology powers billions of transactions monthly. The Silicon Valley pioneer is the trusted intermediary among rightsholders (including labels, studios, distributors, publishers, and collectives) and major platforms. For more information, visit https://www.audiblemagic.com/.
About ShareChat
ShareChat is a leading Indian social media platform that allows users to share their opinions, record their lives and make new friends – all within the comfort of their native language. Spearheading India’s internet revolution, ShareChat is changing the way in which the next billion users will interact on the internet. For more information, download the ShareChat app from the Google Play Store or visit https://we.sharechat.com.
Contacts:
Adriana Saldaña
Sterling Communications for Audible Magic
+1 408-395-5500
Rahul Nag
ShareChat
Music-Related User Generated Content Could Be Worth $6BN Over The Next Two Years (Report) - Music Business Worldwide
User-generated content could be worth around $6 billion to the music industry over the next two years.
That’s according to a new white paper published by London-based MIDiA Research, in partnership with Audible Magic, entitled The Rising Power of UGC, which examines “the rising power of UGC and the untapped opportunity to monetise the growth in UGC consumer behaviours and new platforms."
Read the full article by Music Business Worldwide here.