Twitch
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via GILive streaming platform Twitch has entered into an agreement with digital music licensing service Merlin to create revenue-earning opportunities for independent artists.
Merlin represents more than 20,000 labels and hundreds of thousands of artists from every country in the world, who can now interact with fans, generate earnings and build community on Twitch.
Similar to the recent agreements formed between Twitch and Universal Music and Warner Music’s recorded music divisions, the Merlin partnership is not a licensing deal.
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Twitch for this groundbreaking deal,” said Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota in a release. “We’ve been engaged in conversations with Twitch since the day I started at Merlin, and I’m pleased that our team found a path for Merlin members and their artists to better engage fan communities across the Twitch ecosystem, whether in music, gaming or beyond. Merlin members are excited to lean into this opportunity on behalf of their artists.”
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, artists have leaned more on digital platforms to create additional revenue streams. The new partnership will create direct communications between Merlin members and Twitch in order to forge new marketing opportunities for labels and artists.
The agreement will help Merlin members tap into Twitch opportunities such as The Collective, an artist incubator program announced by the platform in November. The program assembles musicians into invite-only groups called collectives, which are designed to help artists learn how to use and maximize the platform, with support from Twitch staff and industry partners including Amazon Music, United Masters, DistroKid and TuneCore, among others.
Through the deal, Merlin members will also have access to a process introduced by Twitch in September that enables participating music rights holders to report certain unauthorized uses of their music.
“It really is an exciting time to be an independent artist,” said Twitch’s vp/head of music Tracy Chan in a release. “The relationship between fan and artist has been transformed, and we’re proud to offer a new pathway to success for so many artists. Our partnership with Merlin affords their members’ independent artists an on-ramp to our devoted and engaged Twitch community. We are grateful for the collaborative work of our colleagues at Merlin and know that, together, we can achieve great things for a sector of the music community that has never been more influential.”
The deal with Merlin is just the latest step in Twitch’s efforts to foster a collaborative relationship with the music industry. In addition to the agreements reached with UMG and WMG, Twitch reached a landmark settlement with the National Music Publishers’ Association in September 2021 over the platform’s past usage of music, developed a new process for music rights holders to report unauthorized use of their work on the platform and offered NMPA members an opt-in deal for licensing.
NEWS
Massive Attack have been using their latest live show to challenge American data analytics and software company Palantir, with the band describing the firm's ambitions as "terrifying".
The pioneering trip hop group have woven criticism of the controversial surveillance technology company into their new stage production. During their upcoming performance at Primavera Sound, they plan to deploy "custom-made facial recognition software" capable of "scanning a 75,000-person crowd" and projecting audience members onto giant screens with tongue in cheek labels such as "11 weeks no time off, burnout" and "unfinished books", according to Novara Media.
Speaking with the publication, the visual concept takes direct aim at Palantir, the company established two decades ago by billionaire Peter Thiel. Backed financially by the CIA, the firm counts the US and Israeli militaries, ICE, the FBI and the NHS among its clients.
After unveiling the production in Helsinki, Robert Del Naja told Novara Media that he wanted audiences to better understand how Palantir's reach has expanded from supplying "kill chain tech" reportedly used in Gaza to now having access to the medical records of people across Britain.
"We really need a much wider debate on the suitability of a company like this having such capture of our societal infrastructure," he said. He explained that the criticism is embedded throughout Massive Attack's two hour performance and was developed alongside long time collaborator Adam Curtis and London art collective United Visual Artists.
"One visual element represents how a Palantir Gotham monitoring and ‘decision chain’ interface might look," Del Naja explained. "Using facial recognition technology, it lands on groups and individuals – implying a consequential outcome for a given target."
Novara Media also detailed how Palantir's software can connect information from multiple databases. The outlet reported that ICE allegedly combines the platform with body camera footage, social media data and information gathered through Israeli developed hacking software Paragon to identify protesters involved in resistance to immigration raids.
The publication further claimed that Palantir contributes to Maven, a software platform used by the US military, which has recently faced criticism after being linked to the bombing of a girls' school in Iran.
"I find their declarations, objectives and moral framing pretty terrifying," Del Naja said. "To enable AI systems to map police records, satellite tracked locations, health records and personal financial transactions and place all of that information – for the first time – into the hands of a company with an overt political agenda and social objectives of its own is a huge, potentially irreversible and dangerous overreach."
Another moment in Massive Attack's current live production appears during the closing section of "Girl I Love You", when a quote from Peter Thiel is projected on screen reading: "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible".
Last year, Massive Attack introduced the satirical "facial recognition" sequence during their concerts and quickly rejected suggestions that genuine data recognition systems were being used on audiences.
"No Massive Attack live show has ever recorded or stored personal data," the group stated. "Only government departments, relevant authorities & approved contractors can access public databases in the UK, & doing so in multiple cities/countries would be impossible."
The band also pointed to the growing use of facial recognition technology across Britain, arguing that authorities are "overreaching almost all other western democracies with their use of public facial recognition … while there is no specific legislation regulating police use of these systems."
The statement arrived shortly after Massive Attack welcomed Kneecap onto the stage during their major show at the OVO Wembley Arena, introducing them as a group "who refused to be silenced for their solidarity with the Palestinian people."
Massive Attack have consistently spoken out in support of Palestine and a range of other progressive causes. More recently, they pledged to boycott Spotify following reports that CEO Daniel Ek had invested heavily "in a company producing military munition drones and AI technology integrated into fighter aircraft."
During their headline appearance at London's LIDO Festival last summer, the band were joined by actor and activist Khalid Abdalla along with Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def. Earlier this year, Del Naja also criticised what he described as a "draconian government" after being arrested while protesting the ban on Palestine Action.
The musician was one of hundreds of demonstrators who gathered in Trafalgar Square on April 11 to oppose the Palestine Action ban. He carried a placard stating "I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action".
Police removed him from the protest and arrested him on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organisation. He later responded with an extensive statement posted to Instagram.
Back in February, the band revealed a small run of European dates for the summer. The tour began on May 27 at Veikkaus Arena in Helsinki before continuing to Dalhalla in Rättvik on May 30.
The Bristol trip hop pioneers have not released new material since the 2020 EP "Eutopia". Their most recent studio album remains 2010's "Heligoland".
Speaking with NME in 2024, Robert Del Naja revealed that the band had "some new music which we've been sitting on for four years". He later shared in November that he hoped to finally release some of that material in 2026.
