Entertainment
Sony Music CEO Talks AI: ‘We Are Going to Do Deals for New Music AI Products This Year’
Sony Music CEO/chairman Rob Stringer spoke to investors on Friday (June 13) about his vision for how generative AI can be integrated into his business, stating that the company is “going to do deals for new music AI products this year with those that want to construct the future with us the right way.”
To date, Stringer says the major music company has “actively engaged with more than 800 companies on ethical product creation, content protection and detection, enhancing metadata and audio tuning and translation amongst many other shared strategies.” He went on to say that he believes “AI will be a powerful tool in creating exciting new music that will be innovative and futuristic. There is no doubt about this,” but later added: “So far, there is too little collaboration, with the exception of a handful of more ethically minded players.”
Stringer’s statements about the emerging tech, which he made at Sony Group’s 2025 Business Segment Presentation, arrived just a week after news broke that Sony — and its competitors Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — were engaged in talks with generative AI music companies Suno and Udio about creating a music license for their models. Suno and Udio are currently using copyrighted material, including music from the three majors, to train their models without a license. This spurred the trio to file blockbuster lawsuits against Suno and Udio in June 2024, in which they alleged copyright infringement on an “almost unimaginable scale.”
In his remarks on Friday, Stringer likened the current AI revolution to “the shift from ownership to streaming” just over a decade ago. “We will share all revenues with our artists and songwriters, whether from training or related to outputs, so they are appropriately compensated from day one of this new frontier,” he said.
“I do think that what AI is based on, which is learning models and training models based on existing content, means that those people who have paved the way for this technology do have to be fairly treated in terms of how they get recompense for that usage in the training model,” Stringer continued. “We have been pretty clear on this since day one that there is absolutely no backwards view as to what this technology will do. There will be artists, probably there will be young people sitting in bedrooms today, who will end up making the music of tomorrow through AI. But if they use existing content to blend something into something magical, then those original creators have to be fairly compensated. And I think that’s where we are at the moment.”
There are challenges ahead to figure out proper remuneration for musical artists from generative AI, as Billboard recently described in an analysis of the Suno and Udio licensing talks. While the AI license could borrow the streaming licensing model by having AI firms obtain blanket licenses for a company’s full musical catalog in exchange for payment, it remains to be seen how the payments would be divided up from there. On streaming services, it’s simple to determine how often any given song is consumed and to route money to songs based on their popularity. But for generative AI, the calculation would be far more complicated. To date, Suno and Udio do not offer guidance as to which tracks were used in the making of an output, and experts are divided on whether or not the technology needed to figure that out is ready yet.
Also on Friday, Stringer expressed a desire to come to agreements with AI companies in a free market, stating: “With deals being carried out, it will be clear to governments that a functioning marketplace does exist, so there is no need for them to listen to the lobbying from the tech companies so heavily.”
Today, many AI companies don’t believe they need to license music or other copyrights at all, citing a “fair use” defense. But in his statements, Stringer was optimistic that this would change, citing the recent position of the U.S. Copyright Office, which said that “making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries.” One day after publishing this position about the value of copyrights in the AI age, however, the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, was fired by President Donald Trump. (Perlmutter sued soon after, calling Trump’s move “unlawful and ineffective.”)
“We are between us and the AI tech platforms trying to find common ground,” Stringer continued. “And that common ground is not going to take a minute. It’s going to take a moment, and then it’s going to take the trial and error process, and we are in that era right now.”
Myke Towers and Quevedo propel “Soleo” to the top of Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart as the song jumps a spot to No. 1 on the list dated Aug. 9.
Their first collab, “Soleao” (which translates to “sunny” in English), was released May 20 on One World International/Warner Records/Warner Latina. It leads the way in its ninth chart week, after an 11% growth in audience impressions, to 9.1 million, across U.S. panel-contributing Latin radio stations in the tracking week of July 25-31, according to Luminate.
Towers claims his 15th Latin Airplay champ, and third consecutively of 2025, after one-week rulers “Otra Noche,” featuring Darell (February), and “Degenere,” featuring Benny Blanco (May).
Further, Towers adds to his satchel of wins as he accomplishes a third trio of No. 1s in a single year. Rewind to 2021, when (after landing two early chart-toppers, for that matter) the Puerto Rican delivered a streak of three straight No. 1s: “Bandido,” with Juhn; “Pareja del Año,” with Sebastián Yatra; and “Bésame,” with Luis Fonsi, that June, August and November, respectively. In 2024, Towers replicated the success with another trio of consecutive No. 1s: “Borracho y Loco,” with Yandel; “La Falda”; and “La Capi,” between that February and May.
Meanwhile, Quevedo makes a comeback to No. 1 on Latin Airplay. He previously led, for four weeks, with “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 52,” with Bizarrap, in 2022.
Beyond its Latin Airplay coronation, “Soleao” likewise lifts 2-1 on Latin Pop Airplay. There, Towers tallies a third No. 1 and Quevedo, his first. Further, the song adds a second week atop Latin Rhythm Airplay.
Banda Carnaval Ignites Regional Mexican Airplay: Elsewhere on the Latin charts, Banda Carnaval secures its eighth No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay, and second of the year, as “Ya La Hice” bounds 9-1 with 6.6 million audience impressions, up 47%, in the tracking week. The act’s “Pude” led for a week in March.
“We are deeply grateful to our fans for taking ‘Ya La Hice’ to No. 1 on Billboard’s Regional Mexican Airplay chart,” Banda Carnaval tells Billboard. “This song represents a very special moment for us, and seeing it connect with people in this way fills us with pride and emotion. Thank you to everyone who has made it their own, to the composers for this great story, and to our team who continues to believe in our music. Let’s go all the way with Síganme Tirando!”
“Ya La Hice” earns Greatest Gainer honors, awarded to the song with the largest week-over-week increase in impressions at the format. Leading the charge during the tracking period are Univision stations, with standout support from KSCA-FM Los Angeles, KLNO-FM Dallas, and WOJO-FM Chicago.
Entertainment
Ice Cube’s ‘War of the Worlds’ Film Has a 0% Rating on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ & Cube’s Son Is Weighing In
Ice Cube‘s latest movie is off to a slow start on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. According to 15 critics (and counting), War of the Worlds so far has a zero percent rating on the Tomatometer scale, while thousands of moviegoers have given it at 14 percent rating on the Popcornmeter.
One review in particular, from Variety‘s Peter Debruge knocked the film for essentially doubling as a commercial for Amazon, writing, “Even with a Prime subscription, you have to sit through two minutes of ads to watch 90 more of what amounts to a feature-length commercial for all things Amazon,” while another from The Telegraph‘s Ed Power wasn’t really into all the screen time Cube got, saying, “It is silly, shoddy and features far too much of rapper-turned-leading man Ice Cube staring at a computer screen while looking as if he’s working through a reasonably urgent digestive ailment.”
An adaptation of H. G. Wells’ classic 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, this version is an Amazon Prime production directed by Rich Lee and also starring Eva Longoria. Cube plays Will Radford, a surveillance expert at the Department of Homeland Security, and most of the movie takes place on his computer screen as he deals with a hacker and an alien invasion while trying to keep his family out of harm’s way.
The synopsis on Prime Video reads as follows: “A gargantuan invasion is coming with this fresh take on the legendary novel of the same name. Renowned actress Eva Longoria is joined by iconic rapper and actor Ice Cube, along with Michael O’Neill and Iman Benson, for a thrilling out-of-this-world adventure that is filled with present-day themes of technology, surveillance, and privacy.”
Cube’s son, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., replied to a tweet on X of a video clip from the movie in which an Amazon Prime delivery person tells Cube’s character to cop a USB from Amazon, so he can deliver it via Prime Air with a drone. “I truly can’t believe this adaptation of War Of The Worlds is actually a real film with a real budget and Ice Cube is actually in it,” a fan posted, with Jackson replying that the movie was “Shot during the pandemic. Released 5 years later.”
Billboard has reached out to Ice Cube’s team for comment.
Entertainment
Cara Lewis Group Hires Ashley Ventura, Who Will Bring Bhad Bhabie & More to the Agency
Cara Lewis Group (CLG) has hired agent Ashley Ventura, who will bring her clients to the independent agency.
“CLG is an obvious fit for her talents,” said founder/CEO Cara Lewis in a statement. “The entire Cara Lewis Group team is thrilled to have her as a valued addition. We look forward to continuing our mantra of artist development, creating stars and long lasting careers.”
Ventura has worked as an agent in the hip-hop and R&B space for more than five years, previously working at MAC Agency. A press release announcing her hire described her as a “proven” leader and “one of the newest, most exciting agents in the industry.”
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Cara Lewis Group and to continue pushing culture forward alongside such a respected team,” added Ventura. “This new chapter marks an exciting step in my journey, and I’m looking forward to building with incredible artists and creating what’s next.”
Ventura will be bringing a number of talented artists to the CLG roster, including hip-hop icon French Montana and reality TV star and rapper Bhad Bhabie. Her other clients include Atlanta rapper Anycia, Bay Swag, Bktherula, Gashi, K Camp and Kentheman, all of whom are following her to CLG.
CLG’s roster currently includes Eminem, Travis Scott, Khalid, Don Toliver, Clipse, The Roots, Russ, Jill Scott, Ludacris, Ice Spice, BIA and Erykah Badu. Lewis is one of the most successful independent agents in hip-hop, having spent more than 20 years at William Morris as a partner, where she built the urban-pop division before joining CAA’s music department.
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