Up to 70% of streams of AI-generated music on Deezer are fraudulent, says report
Up to seven out of 10 streams of artificial intelligence-generated music on the Deezer platform are fraudulent, according to the French streaming platform.The company said AI-made music accounts for just 0.5% of streams on the music streaming platform but its analysis shows that fraudsters are behind up to 70% of those streams.AI-generated music is a growing problem on streaming platforms.Fraudsters typically generate revenue on platforms such as Deezer by using bots to “listen” to AI-generated songs – and take the subsequent royalty payments, which become sizeable once spread across multiple tracks.
The tactic aims to evade detection measures triggered by vast listening numbers for a small amount of bogus tracks,Thibault Roucou, the director of royalties and reporting at the Paris-based platform, said the manipulation of AI-generated music was an bid to “get some money from royalties”,“As long as there is money [in fraudulent streaming] there will be efforts, unfortunately, to try to get a profit from it,” he said,“That’s why we’re investing in fighting it, because we know it’s not going away and we need to be one step ahead every time,”Deezer deploys a tool it says can detect 100% AI-made content from the most prolific AI music models such as Suno and Udio.
Deezer said the AI-generated music streamed by fraudsters ranged from fake pop and rap music to artificial mood tracks.The platform blocks royalty payments for streams it has identified as fraudulent.Deezer revealed in April that AI-generated music now represents 18% of all uploads to its platform, or 20,000 tracks per day.The company said it was removing all fully AI-generated content from its algorithmic recommendations.Deezer has more than 10 million subscribers worldwide, while market leader Spotify has 268 million.
Roucou said he did not know who was behind the fraudulent streams but the perpetrators appeared to be “organised”.The global streaming market was worth $20.4bn last year, according to trade body the IFPI, representing a sizeable target for fraudsters.In its latest global music report, the IFPI said fraudulent streaming steals money that “should be going to legitimate artists”.It said generative AI had “significantly exacerbated” the problem.
Last year, a musician in the US, Michael Smith, was charged in connection with a scheme to create hundreds of thousands of AI-generated songs and stream them billions of times, obtaining $10m in royalty payments.
Trump threatens to keep 25% tariff on UK steel imports over Port Talbot concerns
Donald Trump is threatening to keep 25% tariffs on some or all of its steel imports from the UK unless it gives specific guarantees over the Indian-owned steelmaking plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, sources have told the Guardian.An agreement to reduce tariffs on UK car exports to the US and scrap them for the aerospace sector was signed off by the US president and Keir Starmer on Monday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.However, it did not include the removal of tariffs on steel imports from the UK. Officials are still negotiating over the fine points of a deal to cover the steel and aluminium industry, amid US concerns about the fact that Tata Steel imports raw materials from abroad.Starmer told reporters in Banff, Canada: “There’s further work to do in relation to steel, but we’re getting on and doing that work
Trump claims EU is not offering a fair trade deal; Reeves pitches UK as ‘oasis of stability’; oil climbs as shares fall – as it happened
US president Donald Trump has said the European Union was not yet offering a fair deal in trade talks between the United States and the 27-nation bloc.Seaking to reporters on Air Force One, as he returned early from the G7 summit, Trump explained:“We’re talking, but I don’t feel that they’re offering a fair deal yet. They’re either going to make a good deal or they’ll just pay whatever we say they have to pay.”Trump also said there was a chance of a trade deal with Japan, but said Tokyo was being “tough”, Reuters reports.TRUMP SAYS EU NOT YET OFFERING A FAIR DEALTrump added that pharmaceutical tariffs were coming very soon and noted that Canada would pay to be part of his “golden dome” project
Europe will never return to Russian gas, European Commission insists
The European Commission has insisted there will be no return to Russian gas, as it published plans to phase out fossil fuel imports from its eastern neighbour by 2028.The EU energy commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, said a proposed ban on Russian gas imports would remain, irrespective of whether there was peace in Ukraine.EU officials recalled when Russia cut gas supplies in 2006, 2009 and 2014, as well as the deliberate reduction in flows in 2021 before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which contributed to a huge rise in energy prices and surging inflation across the continent.Under the proposals, European companies would be banned from importing Russian gas or providing services at EU liquified natural gas terminals to Russian customers. Any contracts entered into from today would have to be wound up by 1 January 2026, but companies with pre-existing agreements have a final deadline of 1 January 2028
Poundland to shut 68 stores in restructuring that puts 2,000 jobs at risk
Poundland is to shut 68 shops and two distribution centres and aims to close at least 80 more stores, putting more than 2,000 jobs at risk.The British company, which was sold last week to the US investment group Gordon Brothers for £1, has more than 800 outlets in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, employing about 16,000 people. It said it planned to reduce this eventually to no more than 650 outlets.It also wants landlords to cut rents to zero on up to 180 stores – putting the future of those outlets in doubt – while also seeking rent reductions of between 15% and 75% on dozens more stores as part of a restructuring process that it will put to creditors in August.Poundland is also stopping selling online, ditching its Perks loyalty app, ceasing to sell frozen foods and reducing its range of chilled foods to items that make up its £3 meal deals – such as sandwiches – and essentials including milk
‘Vital’ that British steel gets Trump tariff deal after UK-US trade pact, say unions
Steel trade unions have said it is “absolutely vital” that the UK rapidly secures a deal to protect the sector from Donald Trump’s tariffs, after the industry was excluded from an initial UK-US pact signed on Monday night.Keir Starmer and Trump signed off a UK-US trade deal at the G7 summit in Canada, with the US president saying Britain would have protection against future tariffs “because I like them”.The car industry was relieved that tariffs on the sector will be reduced to 10% from 27.5%. The UK aerospace sector will face no tariffs at all from the US after deal, which followed an initial agreement made in May
UK bank TSB could be sold off by Spanish owner Sabadell
The Spanish bank Sabadell has said it has received interest from prospective buyers of its UK division TSB, and said it would assess any firm offers it may receive.Sabadell wants to sell TSB as it battles to fend off an €11bn (£9.4bn) hostile approach from its Spanish rival BBVA.The Catalonia-based lender said it had received “preliminary non-binding expressions of interest” for TSB from unnamed bidders, and would examine any potential binding offer.TSB, which has 175 branches in the UK, has more than 5 million customers and 5,000 staff
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