As AI and digital health platforms adopt music as a therapeutic tool, getting caught up in data and delivery is easy. But music’s true impact has always been its emotional resonance. In the race to build smarter systems, we can’t afford to lose sight of the very thing that makes music matter—how it makes people feel. This blog explores why emotion must be considered a core function, not a bonus feature, in music-based interventions. It looks at how emotional connection drives real-world outcomes in settings like dementia care and anxiety treatment, and why balancing clinical safety with human feeling is essential to building truly effective therapeutic experiences.

Streaming won the war for ears — now it has to win hearts. After years of explosive growth, the industry is now plateauing in mature markets. According to this recent Co-lab article by Musically and Tuned Global MD Con Raso, the next wave won’t come from more passive listening. It’ll come from turning listeners into creators — remixers, collaborators, and co-authors of the music they love. This isn’t a trend: it’s a transformation. And it’s already underway.

Gaming now earns more than music and film combined — and music is becoming core to gameplay. Music Business Worldwide covered the interesting conversation from the Music Tectonics conference, where leaders from Riot Games, Epic Games, and Tuned Global and Vickie Naumann unpack how in-game music, virtual bands, and licensing tech are reshaping fan engagement and artist discovery. Read a full summary of their discussion or watch the full panel video.

Africa’s music industry is undergoing a transformation driven by innovation, global interest, and the rise of local talent. In a panel hosted by Tuned Global, experts from across the sector gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges shaping the continent’s music streaming landscape. Speakers from Tuned Global, Warner Music Group,  MTN's super app Ayoba, Sewasew Multimedia, and African Music Summit offered deep insights into the forces reshaping how African audiences access and enjoy music.

*This article was first published here on Hypebot.

In our current app-based world, niche streaming services that primarily serve one market, ethnic communities, or genres are fighting a hard fight against established global or larger regional players.

Yet, we may be at a crucial moment when market dominance may be seriously challenged by the little guy.

The catalyst: AI agents and their impact on music access and engagement, including, but not limited to, search and discovery.

In recent years, music therapy has gained recognition as a valuable tool in healthcare, offering tangible benefits for mental, emotional, and physical well-being. 

Tuned Global CMO Virginie Chelles hosted a panel at The Wallifornia Music + Tech 2024 event highlighting the cutting-edge developments in music therapy. She discussed the synergy of music, technology, and artificial intelligence to deliver unique therapeutic outcomes. 

This panel consists of: 

Nicc Johnson: CEO Music Health, an AI-driven music intervention technology transforming one-on-one dementia care with tailored music-based interventions that support both the caregiver and care recipient.

Oleg Stavitsky CEO Endel, a technology that creates personalised sound environments to reduce stress, improve sleep, and boost productivity.

Haley Harris CMO Biomedical Music Solutions, delivers personalised music to precise areas of the brain responsible for walking and balance. 

Gary Jones, CEO Medi Music*, an AI-based music neuroscience solution that dispenses music via our Digital Drip™, which dynamically creates playlists to mimic the human brain's physiological response.

This blog post explores key insights from industry pioneers who are redefining how we perceive and utilise music as therapy.

Scores of venues across central Sydney — Australia’s biggest metropolis —opened their doors to the music, tech, film and entertainment extravaganza from Oct. 15-22, completing SXSW's first expansion out of Austin, TX. After 7 days, roughly 300 performances (nearly 40% of which were international) and upwards of 600 speakers, the inaugural SXSW Sydney is done and dusted.

The likes of Chance The Rapper, Nicole Kidman and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker were among the guest speakers who donned a SXSW Sydney lanyard and brought star power to the show.

This article was initially published on Billboard, which was there to soak it up. Check out three of their highlights.

Taylor Swift recently entered the Guinness World Records with the most streamed album on Spotify.

Fewer artists manage such achievements in music streaming services. This is because, firstly, there’s so much content that it’s challenging to stand out from the crowd, and secondly, new music uploaded to streaming services is likely to be listened to (and categorised) by an AI before a human hears it.

Mainstream platforms are designed to drive the right content to the right audience. It’s all about user engagement rather than the development of artists.

Niche audiences interested in a specific genre or independent artists in their region might not find what they want to listen to.

Several non-music brands and music startups have pointed out this problem and decided to do something to rally their community while supporting talents. As a result, they have built alternatives to Spotify for their niche market.

Discover in this article how you could also use a music service to attract your audience and engage with them.

Streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music have become incredibly popular in recent years, due in part to their vast libraries of commercial music.

But how do these streaming services get the rights to stream all that music? And what happens when a song is played on these services?

To stream music on services such as Spotify and Apple Music, the streaming service must first obtain a licence from the copyright owner(s) of those song libraries. This process can be quite complex and lengthy, as the terms of the licence need to be negotiated between the copyright holder and the streaming service.

Some of the things that may be included in a music licensing agreement include the length of the licence (term), the territories (single or multi-territories) in which the music will be streamed, and the amount of royalties that the streaming service will pay to the copyright holder(s).

For a music streaming service, there are usually 3 main sets of rights obtained:

• Master Rights (Record Labels)
• Publishing Rights (Song composers, writer contributors etc)
• PRO Rights (Performance Rights Organisations (public broadcasting))

Layering music into web3 and the metaverse is a complex task with lots of moving parts. Those parts can quickly devolve into technical and legal quicksand.

With those pitfalls in mind, Digital Music News published this pocket survival guide in collaboration with B2B Streaming technology provider Tuned Global.

As companies continue to dip into the metaverse, complex implementation questions are quickly surrounding the use of music.

Part of the reason is simple: just like real life, listeners want their virtual abodes to feature their favourite music.

The metaverse wouldn’t feel ‘real’ without it.