Musician Paula Toledo recently learned one of her songs had found an audience through an unlikely source — bootleg Russian DVDs. But she didn’t expect it would lead to a fake version of it streaming online.
Toledo recorded How Long in the 2000s but never released it commercially. It somehow ended up on pirated DVDs, and caught the ears of a small circle of fans, who spent years trying to determine the song’s provenance.
Some created tribute videos for How Long that included images of teddy bears. After 16 years of searching, fans on Reddit found Toledo in Vancouver back in December.
Following the discovery, Toledo uploaded How Long to Bandcamp, a music distribution platform, with all proceeds going to charity. She then added it to music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, using an independent digital music distribution service as a middleman.
But Reddit users soon notified her that a duplicate version of How Long had appeared on streaming services, she says.
International search for mystery singer ends in Vancouver
About 16 years ago, a mystery song with no known singer or writer somehow captured the attention of a group of Reddit users. The group’s sleuthing eventually led them to Vancouver’s Paula Toledo. Gloria Macarenko speaks to Toledo and the moderator of the Reddit group about the search and the singer.
“So they took my song, the exact song, and put new artwork on it with a teddy bear,” Toledo said.
The bogus version created confusion, she says, and her version was removed from streaming services.
Toledo suspects her song fell victim to streaming fraud, which experts say is a growing concern for streaming platforms, music distributors and artists.
“It’s not lost on me that the song was pirated and it was placed in a Russian bootleg DVD … Then it was found and literally weeks after it got pirated again,” Toledo said.
“It’s so unfortunate.”
Adam Batey, centre, is pictured with fellow Beatdapp co-founders Pouria Assadipour, left, and Morgan Hayduk, right. Batey says the company, which recently secured $17 million US in funding, uses machine learning to root out music streaming fraud. (Min Lee)
Andrew Batey, founder and co-CEO of Beatdapp, a Vancouver-based company that uses technology to help streaming services and distributors sniff out fraud, says most fraud occurs when scammers upload sound files through digital music distribution services to streaming sites.
They then program bots — or steal other people’s accounts — to play the tracks over and over to collect royalties.
The files don’t have to contain music. They can consist of things such as whale noises, or ambient sounds, Batey says. Fraudsters also use music recorded by other artists.
“They load hundreds of thousands of songs on the platforms as if they’re artists,” he said.
“So they make fake labels … they get music from various places, and they put music on the streaming platforms pretending to be artists.”
On The Coast9:53Vancouver company trying to crack down on music streaming fraud
CBC journalist Jon Azpiri explains what music streaming fraud is, and tells us about Beatdapp, a Vancouver company that helps music industry clients root out streaming fraud.
Fraud dilutes the streaming royalty pool
Toledo is concerned that How Long was copied by fraudsters and she is working to untangle what happened.
She says she has reached out to distributors and streaming platforms and hopes the situation will be rectified soon.
“It’s just really unfortunate that in the music industry that there isn’t more protection to protect the artists,” she says. “I’m also very empathetic that [the industry] is dealing with it on probably a very large scale and these bad actors are very savvy.”
Batey says fraud affects big and small artists alike.
Most streaming services determine pay using a system called pro rata, which gathers the total amount of money generated from listeners each month, then divides it proportionally by listening time in order to determine how much each artist should be paid.
Some fraud involves artists using bots to “juice” their streaming numbers and raise their profiles, Batey says. The vast majority — around 80 per cent — opt to quietly rack up streams to get a bigger slice of the royalty pie.
One study has found that one to three per cent of streams in France in 2021 were fake.
Batey estimates the number is much larger — in the range of 10 per cent — siphoning about $2 billion US annually from legitimate artists and labels.
He notes the French study examined the top 10,000 streamed songs in France. Much of the fraud occurs below the radar, he says.
“They want to be in the long tail … meaning they only have a handful of streams against each song per day,” he said.
“They do not want the limelight. They want no sunlight on them.”
Andrew Batey of Beatdapp says like streaming platforms have an incentive to root out fraud. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
There are times, Batey says, when scam artists make a splash. He says he knows of a well-known DJ who had one of his songs copied. Scammers timed the release of the bootlegged version to coincide with the real version. The bootleg ended up getting more prominent placement on streaming service playlist, with fraudsters cashing in.
Batey says Beatdapp works with the music industry to root out fraud, using machine learning to identify suspicious behaviour. The company says it has a false positive rate below 0.001 per cent.
Beatdapp recently announced it raised $17 million US in funding and has formed partnerships with rights management SoundExchange and file-sharing service Napster as well as a collaboration with Universal Music Group.
Streaming fraud creates barriers for artists
In a statement, a Spotify spokesperson told CBC News the company invests heavily in detecting and dealing with artificial streaming.
The statement went on to say less than one per cent of its streams have been determined to be artificial.
“When we identify stream manipulation, we take action that may include removing streaming numbers and withholding royalties,” the spokesperson said. “These actions allow us to protect royalty payouts for honest, hardworking artists.”
The company said artists can report suspected copyright infringement online and the company will notify the content provider of the claim.
The company added that an artist who is having trouble uploading their content should take it up with their distributor.
CBC News also reached out to Apple Music for comment but has not received a response.
Batey says fraud creates a challenging environment for musicians and music labels.
“[Artists] have to do 1,000 things correctly to truly make it. You’re just adding another thing that makes it more difficult,” Batey said.
“When they finally do make it, a lot of these fraudsters are stealing money not just from them, but everyone in the supply chain.”
Toledo says she’s grateful that her music was rediscovered. She wants to use the opportunity to focus on creating new music and building community, rather than sorting through the world of distributors and streaming platforms.
Some of her other music remains on streaming services, but How Long, the song at the centre of the online mystery, remains offline. She hopes she can figure out what happened.
“This is another level of mystery to me,” she said.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
