Transcription
Drok Kid is being acquired. But the story isn't that they just bought the largest independent music distributor. It's that they bought the data to find out what is tomorrow's most valuable catalog.
But then today, I got a message from a fan who had told me that they enjoyed the song so much that they had created a full version of it using Curtis Kire.
Dro Kid just got acquired for $2 billion and it's got a lot of artists worried about what exactly that means as they use their services because a private equity firm is the one that actually bought it. Drokid is being acquired in a deal that had been reportedly discussed at around $2 billion. Now, if you're an independent artist, don't panic. Drokid says nothing changes today. Bill Bower stays on as president and the current leadership stays in place. and artists are still keeping 100% of their royalties under the existing model. Think about what Drokid has built. They don't just distribute music anymore. They have mastering merchandise websites, direct to fan tools.
It's already suspect whenever I see private equity firms involved in music related business because those are also some of the same companies that bought up a lot of these artist cataloges before we were introduced to this beautiful thing called AI music where music was trained illegally on tons and tons of cataloges that weren't even part of the sales. It's interesting how these private equity firms and these companies with money get involved when direct to consumer starts to take a company's priorities.
They're building an entire ecosystem around independent artists and that's what investors are buying. The question now isn't whether independent music is valuable. That $2 billion valuation answers that. The real question is who owns the roads that artists have to drive ones. Because whether it's distribution, streaming, AI, or social media, the companies controlling the infrastructure are becoming some of the most valuable businesses in music. $2 billion private equity firm. Yikes. A lot of artists are like, you know, these companies are always signing off. They're always doing partnerships. Why the hell should I even care, Curtis? How does this even relate to me and what I'm doing with my music? I use Dro Kid to distribute my music. Don't forget what those terms of service say, especially the ones that give them the ability to use your music for things like AI model training. Listen to this perspective from Ryan and we're going to break some of those terms down again just for as a reminder. Ryan believes that this is a data grab.
Drokid just sold for a reported $2 billion and it's going to change the music industry. But the story isn't that they just bought the largest independent music distributor. It's that they bought the data to find out what's tomorrow's most valuable cataloges.
Yeah, this is how it could potentially look on the artist side. You upload a song, it starts doing really well, and you get an email or a DM from your own distributor saying, "Hey, would you like to sell this song to us?" With the benefit of having your data and your earnings, they would know before anybody else what that song is making and what it's likely to make in the future.
I don't have to sign you if I have your your data. I don't have to buy your catalog as a private equity firm if I have your data. and times that they're coming to the table way earlier than any other competitor. They're likely to snatch up those songs at bargain basement prices. And this could be a turning point for private equity. They don't just want cataloges, they want infrastructure.
They don't want just cataloges. They want infrastructure. As a reminder, Dro Kid sits on a massive corpus of audio, metadata, and usage behavioral data across millions of independent artists. you opted into it, which is a real potential asset if licensing deals with AI developers become common. Something majors like Universal and Warner have already begun exploring. Nasty work. Private equity firms have been involved in acquiring of cataloges. They were buying off cataloges years and years ago. Could it be that these companies knew that AI music was coming down the pipeline? This is a list of other private equity firms. CBC is the private equity firm that bought off Drok Kid, right? Nelly sold off his catalog in 2021 for $50 million. Notorious B.I. had another private equity firm named Primary Wave in 2023, sold it for $200 million. Eve, the rapper Eve 2024, she sold off her catalog for between 25 and 50 million. Future sold off to a private equity called Influence Media Partners 2023 undisclosed 8 figure amount. That's a lot of money. If an artist is going through some financial issues, they don't think that catalog is going to pull that in for them. I mean, these are the companies that have access to putting your music into different places where it could generate income like in commercials and televisions. But now, when you see the reckless nature of these platforms that have trained off of our music illegally with AI, you start to realize, WAS THAT WHY THEY WERE BUYING THESE cataloges off? Diabolical DIYers.
Remember I warned you about the idea now of sharing your music because of the presence of AI as snippets and the idea that somebody could take your music upload it to a sunno and have complete a snippet of a song. That was a theory that's a reality now. This artist named Kenny Gray said a fan finished his song using AI.
So, a little while back, I made a parody of Paul McCartney. Tony Macaroni stole all my pepperoni. Now he's never going to get it back. And people really enjoyed the song, requested that I make a full version of which I did, but I never recorded it and released it because I wanted to go and record it properly and felt it could maybe be part of an album. But then today, I got a message from a fan who had told me that they enjoyed the song so much that they had created a full version of it using Sunno. a place.
If one of you snotnose ass I'm a fan of Curtis King TV. I watch your videos, bro. Been watching it for 10 years. Why don't you send me one of these punk ass links? I'm blocking you. I'm blocking anybody with the same name as you. Anybody with the same color avatar as you. What you mean you a fan? That is not fan behavior. What do you mean you took my song and ran it through Suno and finished it?
I'll beat your ass. It added additional verses using my same rhyme scheme. selling danger. And it also added a Beatles type chorus.
Now, to play Devil's Advocate first, I take it as a good thing that the person liked the song so much that they wish there was a full version. And I You could wish your ass to patience. You can wish your ass into going back to your regularly scheduled program and then when the artist lets you know it's done, you can wait too. That's what you can that's what you can wish your way into. How dare you? Here's the thing about it that's so crazy about it. In order to use a platform like Suno, you have to click a button, a check mark that says you have the rights to use this song that you're uploading and and using AI to extend and manipulate. They didn't have the rights to that. Artists should not be putting out snippets of their song in this current climate. What really bums me out more than anything is that me as a songwriter now hears this full version of a song and it's in my head. So if I ever go to finish that version of a song, I now have something to compare it against. This is the part that I think that folks who are not artists will never think about, will never even cross paths with. But us as artists, we're sensitive to our senses. We're sensitive to our environment. The way we see things is very different from what an average person may see things who's not an artist because this is our calling. This is our talent. So, we're influenced by these things. CAN YOU IMAGINE? CAN YOU IMAGINE? You have this idea that you're just allowing all of this creative energy to build off on. You're going through these ideas. You you figuring it out and somebody gives you it and says, "What about this one?" Technology that is built upon the most catchiest of songs. So, it's not like it's going to be automatically terrible. Well, it was stolen from great music. I don't want that. My voice matters in this. But it's hard to tell somebody your voice matters when they don't think that their voice matters enough to go try to find these skill sets themselves. Somebody going to have to tell the truth and I'm going to tell it.
Their voice doesn't matter so much. They don't care that they have a mediocre version of everybody's voice just as long as they can say something. Don't even got to be their voice. I want to be a part of this. Additionally, it now makes me wary of the idea of releasing anything that's not fully complete because now there is the ability for someone to take something and finish it and send it to me. And I guess I don't have to listen to it. But it's hard not to, right? You're interested.
I guess artists, we need to understand uh if you don't finish your song, uh the computer might do it for you and waste a lot of valuable water in the process.
Somebody going to have to tell the truth and I'm going to tell it when you wouldn't even waste a drop of water. You wouldn't turn nobody's water mustard yellow if you just, I don't know, sat down at a dawn and made some music, picked up a tambourine, and hit it. I didn't waste no water with that. What is going on? You have fans who are overstepping their role in this exchange with an artist. An artist does not need somebody who does not make music to give them musical suggestions. You came to them for their specialty. It's like me as somebody who is not in the best of shape right now, going to LeBron and telling him how he should do his offseason workouts, which by the way is happening on Twitter right now as he's putting up workout videos and people are telling him how his technique is wrong, even though he's a professional athlete. But I I digress. So many fans want to be a part of the artistic process, but don't want to be artistic. Artists, two things I'm going to tell you. Consider never releasing a snippet again. If you don't have the full song done, if you don't have a roll out plan for it or a date that is coming out, don't even put the snippet up. Also, consider taking your music off of some of these platforms like a Dro Kid. Just consider it. I removed mine. If you can't find my music and you're wondering why my Spotify listeners is so low, I removed all of my music. Anything you see there are features. I'd rather have it on my website and I'd rather have it on Band Camp, even though Band Camp can get a little sketch. Consider those two things, especially if you care about your art and your IP. This is a nasty, nasty time period we're living in, but it's important for all of us to stay aware. Sylvia Ran, who's probably one of the most powerful voices in the music business, said this, and I believe it was kind of a indirect statement about the state of affairs and uh what she urges specifically at the BET Awards for black artists to protect their music. We've seen musical ideas become movements. And what we know is this. Black creativity is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It has shaped culture and continues to show the world new ways to see and feel. That creativity deserves one continued protection. Music needs us to stand up for it like never before because we are living through a a time of massive technological change.
The possibilities are super exciting, but we must stay as active on the tech side of music as we are on the soulful side. We make the algorithm. The algorithm doesn't make us. We must honor the musician. We must compensate the creator. So let us celebrate music as the art form it is. And let us make sure the next generation of artists has the opportunity to create the songs that will change the world.
I appreciate her for saying the things that she says. It is getting challenging out here, especially for independent artists that feel like they uh don't have a lot of ways that they can combat this. But I encourage you indie ailawsuit.com, the classaction lawsuit against these AI platforms. Go check it out. Sign up if you're an independent artist. This is a crazy crazy world to the point where you can't even trust our distributors and the dro kid. Any of these distributors you should be doing your homework on. You can't trust the very platforms, the third party platforms that you use because you don't know what they're if they're being compromised. You don't know what direct to consumer platforms to use because they're in the BED WITH THE DEVIL. WHERE DO YOU GO to a platform that you would have the most control over, which is your website? The thing that is clear to me though is that we need to be selective about where our music goes. And I know that sounds crazy for people who are trying to build an audience, but new people are new people. New people are new problems. Even people who call themselves fans will take your snippet, finish your song, and then feed you back a DM that says, "Look what I did. I ain't never made music, but this is the idea I got for your music. I put your through training so they can steal more." Is that cool? DIYers, those are my thoughts on that particular topic. You let me know what you think. Protect your IP, ladies and gentlemen.
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