spotify - Pwim.Net

PayPal, Visa, Amazon Named as Core Members to Help Bank of England Work on Developing UK’s CBDC

The Bank of England has named the representatives from companies such as Spotify, PayPal, and Asos, Visa, and Amazon among stakeholders participating in two advisory groups that are examining a possible UK’s CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency).

On Wednesday, September 29, the Bank of England announced the members of the technology and engagement forums.

The technology forum will assist the Bank of England (BoE) in understanding the technical challenges of designing, operating, and implementing a CBDC.

Among the 26 members of the technology, the forum is James Whittle, director of standards and architecture for payments giant PayPal; Mark Shaw, director of global payments strategy for music streaming provider Spotify; Simon Brayshaw, head of technology for online fashion retailer Asos; David MacKeith, principal technology advisor at Amazon Web Services; Edwin Aoki, PayPal’s chief technology officer for blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital currencies.

On the other hand, the engagement forum will assist the BoE in understanding the practicalities of designing, rolling out, and operating a CBDC.

Representatives from Visa, Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley, Mastercard, and HSBC are all included in the engagement forum. Christian Catalini, chief economist for the Facebook-backed Diem Association, and Anne Boden, founder and CEO of digital bank Starling.

While the technology forum conducted its first meeting earlier this month, the engagement forum plans to hold its first meeting later this year.

Central Banks Leading the Way In CBDC

In April, the Bank of England announced the formation of the two forums to examine a potential UK’s CBDC.

During that time, the BoE stated that the central bank and the government had not yet decided whether to launch a CBDC and planned to use the task force to examine the practicalities. The BoE also clarified that a CBDC would not replace cash and bank deposits but exist alongside them.

Despite marked progress in countries like the Bahamas, Jamaica, Sweden, and China, the announcement by the BoE’s approach and status to develop a framework for a digital fiat currency is still at an earlier stage.

In July, the BoE discussed the potential opportunities that a CBDC might bring, including promoting more efficient cross-border and domestic payments, financial inclusion, and financial stability.

The latest announcement signals that the BoE is becoming more serious about its CBDC exploration.

Spotify Intends to Add NFTs to Streaming Service: Report

Swedish audio streaming and media services provider Spotify appears to be planning to add blockchain technology and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to its streaming service.

The firm recently posted two job openings that indicated that the streaming company is exploring the possibility with Web3.

Spotify is currently seeking to recruit people to work in the early stages for “Web3” projects. According to the ad statement by the company: “The hiring of Spotify in the sector seems to be in the first phase of exploration. A vacancy asks for an engineer for its experimental growth team. The full-stack small team that will be responsible for driving growth through new technologies, such as Web3.”

Spotify also has another job offer that looks for a manager in the Innovation and Market Intelligence group. The job posting said: “The streaming company is looking for a candidate with experience in the content, creator, media, Web3, and emerging technology industries” to assist Spotify in defining Moonshots, a term for ambitious new projects.

Spotify is the latest giant in the tech space seeking to make NFT a part of its streaming service to enhance better offerings, increase artist earnings, and make a step ahead in the competition in the crypto space.

However, the company has not commented on the latest developments.

Optimizing Streaming Capabilities

The move signals that Spotify’s interest in blockchain technology is significantly rising. Three and a half years ago, the firm first expressed its interest in that area by acquiring a startup called Mediachain Labs. Spotify acquired the Brooklyn-based blockchain startup Mediachain Labs, whose team joined the company’s office in New York to work on developing better technology for connecting artists and other rights holders with the tracks hosted on Spotify’s service.

Before the acquisition, Spotify had developed several technologies that could assist in such efforts, including a decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) database to connect applications with media and its information, including an attribution engine for creators, and a cryptocurrency that rewards creators for their work.

A few years ago, Spotify invested $10 million in Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency and became one of the founding members of the Libra cryptocurrency initiative.

Every global digital subscription service (such as music or other things) is carefully watching the cryptocurrency and digital payments space. Spotify is hiring people to help it figure out what to do with such emerging technologies.

Spotify Says Testing New Feature to Allow Artists Promote NFTs

Spotify announced on Monday that it is testing a new feature that will allow artists to promote their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on their profiles.

The Swedish audio streaming and media services provider said that the new option is only available for a “very small group of artists.” The firm stated that the test is currently available to a select group of Android users across the US.

Users who are part of the test will be able to preview NFTs via an artist’s profile page. They will then be able to tap through to view and learn more about specific NFTs and choose to buy them from external marketplaces.

Spotify mentioned that it is not applying any fees for NFT sales as part of the test. The company clarified that it is just testing a way to allow artists who are selling NFTs to promote them on its service. According to Spotify, the data will assist in deciding whether to launch a full feature for all artists.

Spotify said that it is conducting the test in response to requests from its industry partners. The company further mentioned that the test is part of its continued commitments to enable artists to deepen their connections with fans both on and off its platform.

In a statement, a Spotify spokesperson said: “Spotify is running a test in which it will help a small group of artists promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artist profiles. We routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve artist and fan experiences. Some of those tests end up paving the way for a broader experience and others serve only as an important learning.”

Blockchain in the Music Industry

In March this year, Spotify announced plans to add blockchain technology and NFTs to its streaming service. The music streaming giant posted two job adverts that showed its intent to hire people to work on the early stages for Web3 projects.

With the new venture, Spotify is assessing how it could develop its cryptocurrency or NFTs to regulate how record labels and artists get paid for their albums and songs.

The proposed system is leveraging blockchain technology to create a shared ledger of rights and royalties between music labels, musicians, and other players in the music industry.

Streaming services play an important role in human lives. As far as music is concerned, Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify have become inseparable from the music industry. Blockchain-based platforms and NFTs have become a vital aspect that leverages the way such services (Spotify, YouTube, and others) stream songs to benefit artists on their platforms.

NFTs can represent anything of value, ranging from a piece of art to a song and beyond. Their non-fungible nature means that every token is different, therefore allowing ownership rights to be preserved on the blockchain.

By using blockchain technology and NFTs, Spotify can further enhance its streaming services to help both users and artists get more out of them.

Music streaming platform Spotify expands its Web3 efforts

The music streaming giant Spotify is increasing its focus on Web3 by conducting trials of token-enabled playlists in a number of important locations.

On February 22nd, Overlord, a Web3 game platform, made the announcement that it will be partnering with Spotify. People who have Creepz nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on Spotify may now access the token-enabled community-curated playlist from Overlord by using their Web3 wallets. This feature was previously only available on Spotify. The playlists can only be unlocked by those who use Android and come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, or New Zealand.

In addition, members of the Fluf, Moonbirds, and Kingship metaverse communities are taking part in the trial project for a period of three months. Although Fluf and Moonbirds have not disclosed any information on their partnership with the streaming service to the public, Kingship has stated on Twitter that it will be participating in a pilot. Users need to have a Kingship Key Card NFT in order to open the tracklist, which include popular songs from artists such as Queen, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg, and Led Zeppelin.

The news caused a significant increase in the number of Web3 music tokens. For instance, the value of Viberate’s (VIB) native token increased by 33 percent. The value of other tokens, such Audius (AUDIO) and Rhythm (RHYTHM), increased by 4% and 2.5%, respectively.

In May 2022, Spotify started conducting experiments using NFT galleries on the profiles of artists. The users were able to see the artists’ NFTs and then be routed to the OpenSea website where they could buy the things, despite the fact that there was no possibility for direct purchase on this platform.

One of the most rapidly developing industries for cryptocurrency use is still the music industry. A collaboration between the value-for-value podcasting platform Fountain and Zebedee was announced in the end of January. This cooperation would allow Bitcoin (BTC) micropayments for podcast listeners. The royalties rights to Rhianna’s popular song from 2015, “Bitch Better Have My Money,” were included in a collection of 300 non-functional tokens that were put up for sale in February.

Spotify removes AI-generated music

The ongoing battle between the music industry and artificial intelligence (AI) continues as Spotify removes AI-generated music. According to a report by the Financial Times (FT), the music streaming platform has removed 7% of songs created by the AI music startup Boomy, amounting to “tens of thousands” of songs. Spotify is also said to be increasing its policing of the platform in response to the situation.

This action by Spotify comes after the platform and other streaming services received complaints of fraud and clutter on the platform. The music industry giant Universal Music Group (UMG) alerted streaming service providers of “suspicious streaming activity” on Boomy tracks, according to FT sources. UMG’s alert led to the removal of the Boomy songs due to the suspected “artificial streaming” of bots posing as listeners, said Spotify. The company also commented, “Artificial streaming is a longstanding, industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to stamp out across our service.”

Representatives from Boomy said the platform is “categorically against” all manipulation or artificial streaming of any kind. However, Lucian Grainge, CEO at Universal Music Group, commented to investors that “The recent explosive development in generative AI will, if left unchecked, both increase the flood of unwanted content on platforms and create rights issues with respect to existing copyright law.”

Last month, UMG emailed streaming services, including Spotify, to block AI services from accessing music catalogs for training purposes. UMG has also sent requests “left and right” to remove AI-generated songs from platforms.

While music industry giants are fighting to control AI-generated content, some artists like Grimes are championing its use. The musician permitted creators to use her voice and be a “guinea pig” for AI music creation, as long as a small set of rules were followed and royalties were split.

In conclusion, the issue of AI-generated music and fraudulent streaming activities is a long-standing problem in the music industry. As the technology continues to develop, it is likely that music industry giants and streaming services will increase their policing of the platform. However, some artists are embracing AI as a new way to create music, and it will be interesting to see how the industry adapts to this new technology in the coming years.