Last night, Beyoncé kicked off the UK leg of Renaissance, her first solo headline tour in seven years. However, human rights groups have raised concerns about the use of live face recognition (LFR) technology on crowds around the Cardiff concert venue. Ahead Beyoncé’s concert in Cardiff last night, South Wales police confirmed that it would be using live facial recognition (LFR) technology to scan crowds around the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. It said the cameras would help identify individuals wanted for “priority offenses.” LFR uses AI to compare faces
When a Discord user leaked unreleased Frank Ocean tracks on Discord, fans on the platform’s music forums clamored to grab hold of the tracks. However, it has since turned out that most, if not all, of the tracks were AI-generated fakes, according Motherboard (part of VICE Media Group). “Everyone started to believe it” Frank Ocean fans have been yearning for fresh material from the elusive singer, whose last full album, “Blonde,” was released in 2016. According to Motherboard a scammer who goes by the handle “mourningassasin” decided to commission a
In 2021, Jack Dorsey’s company, Block Inc (formerly known as Square), agreed to acquire Tidal for $306 million. This deal made Jay-Z a board member of Block Inc and left many wondering whether Dorsey had been finessed into buying the relatively small streaming service at a premium price. Block agreed in March 2021 to pay $396 million in stock and cash for an 87.5% stake in Tidal. After adjustments, it paid $237.3 million for an 86.2% stake, according to Reuters. Jay-Z joined Block’s board after the purchase and remains a
Beyoncé’s philanthropic initiative, the BeyGOOD Foundation, is set to grant $2 million to entrepreneurs and students during her Renaissance World Tour. Ten years after Beyoncé founded BeyGOOD during the Mrs Carter Show World Tour, the initiative working towards economic equity and education, is now the BeyGOOD Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. “I am hugely proud of the work we have done over a decade at BeyGOOD, here in the US and around the world,” Beyoncé said in a press release. “From scholarships to the water crisis in Burundi, to helping families during
EVEN, a creative platform that enables artists to sell their music directly to fans, has closed a $2.2 million seed round led by CSA Partners. Mag Rodriguez founded the platform last year to help Black and brown artists retain equity in their creative work. The blockchain-based direct-to-consumer platform allows artists to sell their music directly to their fans before uploading their music to streaming platforms. When fans purchase music, they can get access to it one to two weeks before they drop on streaming platforms, as well as exclusive content,
“This is the final straw AI,” Drake wrote on Instagram Stories after an AI-generated version of him rapping to Ice Spice’s “Munch” went viral. The Canadian artist is the latest prominent industry figure to express concern over AI-generated music. Streamers urged to take charge The Financial Times reports that Universal Music Group (UMG) wrote a letter to major streamers, including Spotify and Apple Music, to clamp down on AI-generated music. UMG, which controls about a third of the global music market, said they were concerned about AI bots training on their catalog and
A Surf Ghana event with several panellists including Sandy Alibo. A Vibrate poster is visible on the wall.
Spotify has allegedly spent less than 10% of a $100 million diversity fund it launched after its top podcaster, Joe Rogan, came under fire for spreading Covid-19 misinformation and using racial slurs in his podcast. The world’s largest music streaming service announced its $100 million Creator Equity Fund in February 2022 to support the licensing, development, and marketing of music (artists and songwriters) and audio content from historically marginalized groups. However, Bloomberg News reports that, after its first year, Spotify had spent less than 10% of the money on that work. Riddled with
Tech accessory company, oraimo, has announced a new ambassadorial deal with Grammy award-winning artist Burna Boy. For many, the partnership between one of Africa’s leading tech brands and the artist known as the ‘African Giant,’ is a marriage made in heaven. What is oraimo? Described as ‘as far from your regular smart accessory brand,’ oraimo is Africa’s leading TWS (true wireless technology) and smartwatch brand. The company’s initial product line of durable charging bricks and chords became hugely popular amongst the Nigerian community when it first launched due to its
As the world has become more digitized, more accessible payment systems such as Cash App, PayPal and Venmo have become hugely popular. According to data, Cash App has generated over 40 million monthly active users and over 100 million downloads. Recent research reveals that 59% of Black Americans report using Cash App, compared to 37% of Hispanic Americans and even a smaller percentage of white and Asian Americans. Hackers and scammers The popularity of these payment systems among Black and Hispanic Americans is in spite of concerns about security and
