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Band Accused Of Being AI After Racking Up 500k Spotify Plays

An account on X has emerged claiming to represent The Velvet Sundown. This account asserts that the band is not at all AI-generated, sharing in their account bio "Yes, We Are A Real Band & We Never Use AI." - PCGamer

Did A Federal Court Just Open Our Libraries Up For AI Plundering?

Let’s call this what it is: a case about borrowed books and a legal system struggling to reckon with machines that never ask before they take. - LitHub

Why The Music Industry Seems Better-Defended Against AI

As in other creative industries, AI music tools are poised to hollow out the workaday middle of the market. Even new engineering tools have their downsides. - The Verge

In Defense Of Rachel Zegler’s Balcony Scene In The New West End “Evita”

Many people who paid exorbitant prices to see the show in person are miffed that they’re watching “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” on a screen as Zegler sings it to crowds on the street. Writer Ellise Shafer argues that “this divisiveness is exactly the point (director Jamie) Lloyd is trying to make.” - Variety

Report: Stressed UK Theatres Are Increasingly Playing It Safer

Local theatres are increasingly “playing safe” with their programming, resulting in more one-night events, fewer week-long runs and a significant drop in opera, ballet and contemporary dance, the findings of a new report reveal. - Arts Professional

Gallery Powerhouse Blum Will Lay Off Staff And Close, Citing Market Downturn

Founded as Blum and Poe in 1994 in Santa Monica, Calif., by Tim Blum and Jeff Poe, the gallery represents some of the most high profile, and expensive, artists working today, including Yoshitomo Nara and Mark Grotjahn, whose artworks have traded for more than $10 million. - Artnet

Warner Creates $1+ Billion Fund To Buy Rights To Music Catalogs

Warner Music Group and private investment giant Bain Capital are launching a $1.2 billion joint venture to acquire “legendary” music catalogs across both recorded music and music publishing. - Music Business Worldwide

The Benin Bronzes: Who Created Them, Who Has Had Them When, Who’s Returning Them To Whom Now And Why

The Netherlands turned over 119 objects to the Nigerian government, while the MFA Boston gave their two directly to the Oba of Benin. “As these two repatriations underscore, questions linger about who should rightfully receive them — the state or the Oba — as well as what restitution looks like in practice.” - Artnet

Peter Phillips, 86, Britain’s Pioneer Of Pop Art

“He became one of the originators of the British Pop art movement in the 1950s and ’60s. … Phillips layered mundane images of consumer culture and mass entertainment into his vibrantly colored paintings, often with a playful twist.” - ARTnews

What Worries “60 Minutes” Staffers About The Paramount-Trump Settlement

“(Many) believe weeks of leaks about Paramount’s legal machinations and of the 60 Minutes staff’s aversion to any kind of settlement have already undermined the show. Paramount has allowed the newsmagazine … to become ‘the opposition,’ says one of these people. ‘It’s so damaging.’” - Variety

Milwaukee Ballet Drops Live Orchestra For Two Of Next Season’s Productions, Including “Nutcracker”

Citing “operating costs (which) continue to rise while revenue earnings have not kept pace,” company management announced that it would use recorded music for The Nutcracker and ALICE (in wonderland) but that the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra will play for season opener Giselle. - Milwaukee Magazine

Will America’s Polarized Politics Derail Next Year’s 250th Anniversary Celebrations?

Will the occasion underline the country’s divisions, as with Trump's military parade and the No Kings protests? Or can Americans come together over the principles in the Declaration of Independence?  The Bicentennial in 1976, also a time of division after the Vietnam War and Watergate, could offer some clues. - The New York Times

Paris’s Asian Art Museum Sued For “Tibet Erasure”

“Four pro-Tibetan groups in France have filed a legal complaint against Paris’s state-run Musée Guimet, accusing it of attempting to erase Tibet’s cultural identity by renaming its Nepal-Tibet gallery to ‘Himalayan world’ and removing references to ‘Tibetan art.’” - Artnet

Average Ticket Price In London’s West End Up By Nearly One-Quarter

What’s more, the difference between the shows with the highest and lowest average ticket prices is narrower than one year ago. - The Stage

The Last Of The Vatican’s Raphael Rooms Has Now Been Restored

“A decadelong project to clean and restore the largest of the four … spectacularly frescoed reception rooms of the Apostolic Palace … uncovered a novel mural painting technique that the superstar Renaissance painter and architect began but never completed.” - AP

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