-
Universal Music Group and ElevenLabs to Launch AI-Powered Music Platform in Expansive Licensing Deal
Universal Music Group has struck a wide-ranging licensing agreement with AI audio firm ElevenLabs to build a new AI-powered music platform based on UMG’s artist catalogue, marking a departure from the label’s earlier one-off licensing deals with tools such as Hook and Udio towards a jointly developed, purpose-built product. The platform will let fans remix…
-
The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie audiobook review – stories with levity and laughter
This is an audiobook review of Salman Rushdie’s *The Eleventh Hour*, a collection of five short stories and his first work of fiction published since the 2022 attack that left him with life-changing injuries. Across the collection, narrated by five different readers, Rushdie explores legacy, mortality, loneliness and ageing, but the review notes he approaches…
-
Alex Winter reflects on early work with controversial director Michael Winner
Actor and director Alex Winter, best known for playing Bill S Preston in the Bill & Ted films, took part in a Guardian reader Q&A covering his career, from The Lost Boys to directing documentaries on Napster, blockchain and Frank Zappa. The piece offers a personal, wide-ranging look at his life and work, touching on…
-
Spider-Man and The Odyssey deliver bumper summer for box office
Cinemas worldwide have enjoyed a record-breaking summer, driven largely by two blockbusters starring newlyweds Tom Holland and Zendaya. US cinemas recorded their biggest ever May-to-September period, taking $4.761bn (£3.51bn), narrowly surpassing the previous record set in 2013, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey the standout performers. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has taken $2.4bn…
-
Lise Davidsen records five defining roles from Verdi repertoire
Lise Davidsen has released a new Verdi album (Decca) focusing on five of the composer’s leading female roles, choosing parts that suit her powerful voice rather than attempting the full breadth of Verdi’s heroines. The recording matters as a showcase of one of opera’s leading sopranos applying her vocal strengths to iconic, demanding repertoire, with…
-
Google signs its biggest rice-methane carbon credit deal with Indian startup Mitti Labs
Google has struck its largest publicly announced carbon credit deal for rice-methane reduction, agreeing to buy 1 million credits through 2030 from Indian climate-tech startup Mitti Labs. The four-year agreement covers rice farms across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reaching around 100,000 hectares at peak delivery, and comes as Google grapples with meeting its 2030…
-
Ed Cosens and Samuel Taylor launch new Sheffield songwriting series Northern Nights
Sheffield musicians Ed Cosens and Samuel Taylor are launching Northern Nights, a new songwriters’ series inspired by Nashville’s intimate listening-room scene, such as the famous Bluebird Cafe. The venture aims to give quality songwriting a dedicated platform in the north of England, moving between different unique venues in the city rather than sticking to one…
-
‘Why Did I Get Married Again?’ Review: Taraji P. Henson Joins the Gang for a Tyler Perry Sequel That Sells the Next Generation Short
Variety’s review of “Why Did I Get Married Again?” finds Tyler Perry’s Netflix sequel, arriving 16 years after “Why Did I Get Married Too?”, spends too much time re-establishing its returning characters at the expense of the new generation it introduces. The film reunites the original ensemble, including Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White, Jill Scott…