- 📍 1. CONTEXT / INDUSTRY SHIFT TikTok just folded Chordal’s InstantClear licensing tech into its Commercial Music Library (CML). On the surface, that’s another “integration headline.” But the weight is deeper: this marks a decisive turn from licensing as negotiation to licensing as infrastructure. TikTok’s CML already housed around 1 million pre-cleared tracks. With InstantClear, even songs with multiple co-writers and publishers can now be auto-cleared, fractionally split, and paid out in real time. No endless back-and-forth, no weeks of waiting. Why it matters: Music licensing is becoming invisible to the end-user. For brands, this means one-click access to soundtrack ads. For creators, it means your catalog either fits into the pipe -or gets left behind entirely. And the context is bigger: TikTok has been under fire for years (remember Sony yanking its catalog in 2022, the spats over unpaid royalties, lawsuits circling AI training data). CML was born from that pressure-to give advertisers a safe sandbox. Now it’s evolving into a full-scale licensing utility. Parallels abound. YouTube’s Content ID system once felt like a policing tool. Two decades later, it is infrastructure for billions in payouts. TikTok’s CML + InstantClear could become the Content ID of micro-sync. - 📂 2. CASE FOCUS / BREAKDOWN • TikTok × Chordal integration (MBW, Shore Fire, DMW) - Chordal’s InstantClear tech drops inside TikTok’s CML. Songs with fractional ownership can be cleared in seconds, and automated payout flows to rights-holders. • Chordal API expansion (Music Ally) - Chordal opened InstantClear to other apps beyond TikTok, signaling this isn’t a one-off. The goal: any platform that needs music licensing can plug into pre-cleared rights. • TikTok ad market scale - Global ad spend on TikTok crossed $15B in 2024 (Insider Intelligence), much of it reliant on music in branded campaigns. Now, the majority of that ad spend can flow through a single pre-cleared music pipe.

This is your space. No filters, no followers, just signal. Drop your weekly check-in below. Share one thing you’re building, wrestling with, or thinking through: - What’s moving right now in your creative world? - Where are you stuck? - What’s one win you had this week (even a small one)? This isn’t for likes. It’s for encouragement, momentum, support, and push! Whether you’re in motion or trying to get there, leave your print here. See you below.

Think of a moment in your life that could live inside a movie, game, or series. Could be epic, quiet, hilarious, your call. Now score it. Jump in: - Set the scene: In 2–3 sentences, paint the picture. - Call the track: Pick an existing song, a film cue, or describe the custom sound you’d commission. - Break down the fit: Why this music? What does it make the scene feel like? Share your “scene + score” in the → COMMENTS DOWN BELOW (This ties into Week 1 of Visual Media 101, where we dig into formats and uses — this challenge is your chance to put those ideas into action.)

I’m curious how you all manage your sample libraries and more importantly, your “go-to” samples for kick, snare, transitions, etc. I work in Logic and been using Waves Cosmos sample manager and starring the ones I use, but renaming annd organizing isn’t ideal. I’ve experimenting with just a simple folder system where I’m renaming them for easy recall and can access them easily in my Logic session. But interested to hear what some of you veterans are doing to stay organized.

AI is entering sync, fast. But this isn’t a breakthrough. It’s a rerun. The real innovation is knowing history - and building what AI still can’t. - 📍 1. CONTEXT / INDUSTRY SHIFT There’s a new player in sync - and it’s not human. ElevenLabs, best known for voice cloning, just launched a text-to-music engine. But what makes this different isn’t just the tech. It’s the partnerships. They inked deals with Kobalt and Merlin, giving them access to real music catalogs. The machine isn’t inventing from scratch. It’s composing from human DNA. They say it’s not copying. But it’s trained on our fingerprints. This isn’t innovation. It’s iteration - with a new face. And it’s happened before. In 1908, player pianos started replacing musicians with punched paper rolls. The Supreme Court said it wasn’t a copy - because a human couldn’t read it. Composers got nothing. That moment triggered a legal uprising. Congress passed the 1909 Copyright Act. Now, the Piano Roll is back. But this time, it’s digital, trained on your catalog, and disguised as “original.” - 📂 2. CASE FOCUS / BREAKDOWN Here’s what this looks like in real time: • ElevenLabs + Merlin + Kobalt: launched a sync-ready AI music model trained on licensed catalogs, but with no visible creator involvement or opt-out system. • WSJ confirmed the output is cleared for commercial use - music for TV, trailers, ads, and more. Their Terms say: no prompts using artist names or lyrics, but no mention of creator oversight. • Reddit feedback is split: “audio sounds insane” but “feels like we’re handing over the keys to the car.” Creators are impressed - and nervous. • 1908: Supreme Court ruled piano rolls weren’t copies. Payouts vanished. Congress responded with mechanical licensing in 1909 - the first fightback for creators against machine-made music. This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about pattern recognition. History is looping - and creators still aren’t in the room. - 📈 3. STRATEGY OR BUSINESS PRINCIPLE