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Music Industry Launches AI-Generated Content Labels

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand miniature in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. (Reuters)
AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand miniature in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. (Reuters)
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Music Industry Launches AI-Generated Content Labels

AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand miniature in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. (Reuters)
AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand miniature in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. (Reuters)

Several major music industry organizations on Friday unveiled a labeling system for content created with generative artificial intelligence that they would like to see widely adopted.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the voluntary labels alongside six other groups including the Grammys.

"Fans want to know whether and how generative AI has been used," the chief executives of IFPI and RIAA said in a prepared statement.

"These labels will provide an immediately understandable and easily scalable approach to transparency."

They unveiled two labels. The first would indicate music that is primarily "AI-generated" -- cases where artificial intelligence "was used to generate the entirety or the primary portion of the creative elements of the recording."

This includes tracks generated "entirely" from AI prompts, as well as lead vocals and "key" instrumental tracks that are AI-generated, according to the statement.

The second label applies to "AI-assisted" music recording which are still "created substantially by humans and expresses human creativity" but contain "some expressive elements" that were generated with AI.

However, humans must perform the lead vocals and primary instrumental tracks.

This voluntary labeling system is designed for "broad, global adoption," including on streaming services.

Music streaming site Deezer systematically flags tracks generated with AI, which the company recently said appear in close to half of new uploads. In June, it launched an "AI music detector" which it said is 99.8% accurate.

Earlier this year, an Apple Music executive told Billboard that more than one third of new uploads were entirely created with AI.

The Digital Media Association, a trade group representing streaming companies including Apple Music, Amazon and Spotify, said it was following the labeling announcement closely and looks forward to receiving more detailed and accurate AI metadata as a way to "strengthen our ability to give fans the transparency they deserve."

"DIMA has long advocated for the creators, owners, and distributors of music to provide accurate and timely metadata on all music released and distributed to streaming services," the association's CEO Graham Davies said in a statement.

In April, Spotify launched a "Verified by Spotify" label to signal that users can "trust the authenticity" of an artist, and last year the company announced new efforts to support AI disclosure and combat impersonation.

Spotify declined to comment on Friday. Apple Music and the Digital Media Association did not respond to requests for comment.

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Entertainment

Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Gets 40 Years to Life in Prison for Orchestrating the Murder of Tupac Shakur

Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)
Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)
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Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis Gets 40 Years to Life in Prison for Orchestrating the Murder of Tupac Shakur

Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)
Duane Davis is escorted by police from a sentencing hearing after his murder conviction in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. (John Locher/Pool via Reuters)

An aging ex-gang leader was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting of rap icon Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip.

The killing, rooted in a long-running gang feud, had gone unsolved for decades — captivating the public and tormenting Shakur’s loved ones — until Duane “Keffe D” Davis started bragging about it in interviews and a memoir.

Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. A former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, Davis stared blankly at Judge Carli Kierny as she imposed a penalty that, even with credit for time served, won’t see him eligible for parole until he’s at least 100.

“You don’t get to take a man from his family, you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it, especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” Kierny said. “The world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas.”

Davis, whose lawyer said he will appeal his conviction, is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s death. The late rapper’s legend has only grown in the years since, and his songs continue to resonate with themes of hardship, love and Black struggles.

Tupac's family describes their loss

Shakur’s sister, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur, said it was hard listening over and over again to Davis describe how he hunted and killed her brother, cutting him down at age 25, just as his popularity as a musician and actor was peaking.

Gentle and kind, Shakur was his family’s protector, she said. Had he survived injuries that included the loss of a lung, he would have left rapping behind and delved into activism, treading the path of luminaries like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and perhaps even politics, she said.

“This man’s life mattered,” Sekyiwa Shakur said as family members cried in the audience.

Shakur’s brother, Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, said the killing has been “devastating, heartbreaking and sad” for him, his family and Shakur’s fans.

An unsolved mystery for more than two decades

Davis spoke briefly in court, telling the judge he wanted pictures and other items that police took from his house. Asked if there was anything else he wanted to say, Davis said: “No I’m good.”

Davis was charged after giving interviews and publishing a tell-all memoir in 2019 detailing what he said was his role in the infamous shooting.

On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW with music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up at a red light. Shots erupted. Shakur was hit multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived.

In his memoir, Davis explained he was seeking retaliation for Shakur and his entourage beating up Davis’ nephew hours before the shooting. He said he was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed the gun to the backseat, where shots were fired.

Davis spoke to detectives years before but avoided prosecution because of an agreement he made with law enforcement.

During the weekslong trial, prosecutors relied on Davis’ own statements to law enforcement and documentarians. They argued Davis orchestrated the shooting and provided the gun used in Shakur’s death, which was the result of a rivalry between the South Side Compton Crips and Mob Piru.

Davis’ defense attorney pointed to a lack of physical evidence that connected his client to the 30-year-old crime, and he portrayed Davis as a liar who was trying to make money.

After nine days of hearing testimony in August, the jury deliberated for three hours before turning over the guilty verdict.

Insufficient evidence to charge anyone else

One Shakur fan, rapper Din “Lil Therapy” Malone, said justice is “halfway done” and wants to see other people charged.

“I’ve been grieving for 30 years plus,” he said at the courthouse Tuesday. “I still got a frog in my throat from crying.”

The three other people allegedly in the Cadillac with Davis have died. They included Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, whom Davis said was the one who pulled the trigger.

Another name that has come up: Sean “Diddy” Combs. Witnesses testified at Davis’ trial that the imprisoned music mogul used members of the South Side Compton Crips for security for his label, Bad Boy Records.

Davis alleged in his book and public statements that Combs offered him money to kill Shakur and Knight. Combs, who is serving a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of prostitution-related offenses, has repeatedly denied any involvement in the death of Shakur.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said his office doesn’t have enough evidence to charge anyone else. If more information comes to light, he said, prosecutors can always consider filing additional charges.

“While no amount of time in prison can bring Tupac back, we hope this sentencing brings some measure of closure and peace to his family after nearly 30 years,” Wolfson said in a statement. The case, he said, “is a reminder that no matter how much time passes, our commitment to seeking justice never wavers.”

Entertainment

Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Tanks, Leaving Studio with $250 Mn Hole

Cast member Tom Cruise attends the “Digger” world premiere in London, Britain, September 22, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Tom Cruise attends the “Digger” world premiere in London, Britain, September 22, 2026. (Reuters)
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Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ Tanks, Leaving Studio with $250 Mn Hole

Cast member Tom Cruise attends the “Digger” world premiere in London, Britain, September 22, 2026. (Reuters)
Cast member Tom Cruise attends the “Digger” world premiere in London, Britain, September 22, 2026. (Reuters)

The Tom Cruise eco-satire "Digger," a movie that was supposed to herald the action hero's return to serious acting, has bombed at the box office, with industry insiders predicting it could lose a quarter of a billion dollars.

The Alejandro Inarritu comedy, featuring Cruise as an eccentric oil baron who must fix the problem he has helped create, was panned by critics and has left audiences cold, leaving studio Warner Bros. with a big balance sheet hole just as a merger with Paramount Skydance closes.

After two weeks in theaters, the film has grossed just $14.4 million in North America and $35.3 million globally -- tiny numbers for a big-budget movie that points to cumulative losses in the region of $245 million.

"Financially it has to be considered a disaster," Christopher Rosen of Hollywood trade publication The Ankler told AFP.

"It cost anywhere from $160 million to $180 million -- that's even before marketing -- and it's made relatively nothing at the box office."

Marketing for a movie like "Digger" can cost up to $100 million.

Daniel Loria of Boxoffice Pro noted that the film was greenlit under the tenure of outgoing Warner Bros. executives Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, who made a name for themselves by giving filmmakers the resources and studio budgets to create original, innovative movies.

"Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't," he said.

As an art-house film that satirizes American culture through the lens of a non-American like Inarritu, "Digger" was perhaps destined to be a heavy lift.

"This movie was never going to get a general audience to get behind it, right? I don't think it was ever designed like that," said Loria.

"The film takes every opportunity to push the audience in uncomfortable directions.

"American audiences don't have the easiest time accepting films that criticize American culture, especially when they're made by foreigners."

- A potential mismatch -

The presence of Cruise -- a man sometimes credited with rescuing the box office after its pandemic slump with "Top Gun: Maverick" -- was always going to make the film stand out.

"You've got arguably the biggest movie star in the world (who) was literally everywhere for this movie," said Paul Dergarabedian, a market analyst at Rentrak.

"He was so excited about this movie and working with Alejandro Inarritu.

"By virtue of Tom Cruise's star power, there was a spotlight on this movie. Anything he does is going to be under a microscope."

The size of Cruise's star in the movie firmament makes the comparison even less flattering: "Digger" was never going to be in the same ballpark as the multi-billion dollar "Mission: Impossible" franchise.

But the film's box office does align with the kind of film that Inarritu makes, said Loria.

His movies "aren't really too worried about their box office total; they're worried about having an artistic endeavor behind" them.

That makes "Digger" something of a mismatch, said Loria.

"Unfortunately, I think this was marketed as a general audience movie, when at heart, this is an art-house film."

Entertainment

Selma Blair Arrested in New York After an Alleged Assault on a Delta Flight

Selma Blair. (Reuters)
Selma Blair. (Reuters)
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Selma Blair Arrested in New York After an Alleged Assault on a Delta Flight

Selma Blair. (Reuters)
Selma Blair. (Reuters)

Actor Selma Blair was arrested and taken to a hospital late Sunday night after she was accused of injuring two flight attendants on a plane from Los Angeles to New York.

Blair, 54, was detained by police at around 11 p.m. after the Delta Air Lines jet parked at the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.

Blair and one of the flight attendants were taken to a hospital for evaluation, the Port Authority said.

Details of what happened aboard the aircraft weren’t immediately disclosed by the airline, police or the FBI, which was investigating, but Delta said in a statement it “has zero tolerance for unruly or unlawful behavior, as the safety of our customers and crew always comes first.”

A Blair representative told The Associated Press that the actor had a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct.

The FBI later issued Blair a notice charging her with assault, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The matter will be handled through the petty violations court in federal court in Brooklyn. No date has been set for Blair’s appearance.

It's not the first time Blair has had issues aboard a plane. In 2016, Blair apologized for making statements she later regretted during a flight from Cancun to Los Angeles. She said she had mixed alcohol with medication, causing her to black out.

Blair had major roles in films including 1999's “Cruel Intentions,” 2001's “Legally Blonde” and 2004's “Hellboy.”

In recent years, she has advocated for disability rights. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018. In 2023, she joined President Joe Biden at the White House to celebrate the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.