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permission vs forgiveness

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Hey! I could write a whole memo about the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight, but let’s keep it brief and focus on Netflix.

Pay Per View is still the better business model for most combat sports events, but it was fun to watch a big fight in a widely accessible way. Sure, Netflix had its buffering issues but livestreaming for 60 million accounts isn’t easy. It will get better. In the meantime, Netflix has five weeks to get their system ready for Beyonce on Christmas Day. The Beyhive has even less patience.

Speaking of the NFL, if you enjoyed last week’s episode on the Roc Nation Super Bowl deal, here’s Zack’s breakdown of Jay Z’s NFL endgame.

Today’s episode and memo is about AI, music, and the balance between innovation and regulation. At our summit, Warner Music Group’s chief digital officer Carletta Higginson, and MIDiA Research’s Tati Cirisano talked about all that and more.

You can listen to our talk here or read below for more on the startup tradeoff between asking for permission or forgiveness.

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AI and Music

The concept for this talk at our summit came from a popular memo from May about the inevitable tension between startups and major labels. Here are a few highlights from it:

That’s life for many startups in the industry. But the reality for the rights holders is arguably just as nuanced.

Yes, some may ignore early-stage startups until there’s more traction, but it’s also understandable. Licensing deals take a lot of time and money. No label or publisher wants to go through tense negotiations with a startup that has limited runway and a questionable product. Reputation matters. Look at Triller. I’m sure the industry wished it had the time back it spent fighting those battles.

On our summit panel, Warner’s Carletta Higginson spoke from experience at all sides. She was a litigator during the peer-to-peer file-sharing era, worked at YouTube, and now leads digital for WMG.

Part of the challenge startups face when partnering with majors are the internal silos. The recording and publishing sides don’t always talk to each other, which leads to conversations that can feel duplicative for all sides. Higginson’s role integrates both which allows for more efficiency externally and internally.

Another crucial piece is how deals are structured. Higginson said it’s best to make deals that foster long-term growth for both sides instead of immediate financial gain.

She referenced Warner’s deal with YouTube’s Dream Track partnership, which allows fans to create 30-second generative AI song clips that use the voice of several well-known artists including Charli XCX, who is signed to WMG’s Atlantic Records. It’s a restrictive license that can grow if successful.

It’s worth noting that YouTube already has a global licensing agreement with the majors, so it’s not the same as a young startup. But the approach would like to be the same.

Listen to the rest of the conversation with Higginson and Tati Cirisano here. We’ll share the rest of the conversations in the next few weeks!

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Dan Runcie
Founder of Trapital

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