In today’s CMU Daily: Sony has loads of fancy toys and that’s making it easier than ever to create content. In particular, the major is keen to talk up how quickly, easily and cheaply it can whack out immersive content for artists who want to dip their toes - or other virtual bodyparts - into the world of Fortnite

Also today: A whole raft of Astroworld injury lawsuits have been settled days before three ‘bellwether’ cases - which could influence the others - were due to start in court, meaning everything has been pushed back to February 2025; Lawyers working for Diddy want a gagging order to shut up everyone involved in the lawsuits filed against him to stop the “shockingly prejudicial” media coverage

Plus: ILĀ is CMU Approved

Sony Music shows off “next-generation immersive technologies”, trails upcoming Myles Smith Fortnite event

At an event at Sony Music’s London offices earlier today, the major record company showcased its work creating content and events for artists on platforms like Roblox and Fortnite via its Sony Immersive Music Studios division. 

Although the idea of creating that type of content is not new, the way Sony is creating and delivering immersive content has evolved, helping to reduce costs and removing some of the logistical barriers. As a result, says Sony, immersive content projects are now more viable for a wider range of artists - including newer talent like singer-songwriter Myles Smith.

Part of this is led by the access to technology Sony Music has via the wider Sony Group of companies - something hinted at by Sony Music boss Rob Stringer in his recent interview as part of Bloomberg Screentime. “Offering our talent unique access” to Sony Group tech is “core to the value we provide”, says Sony, highlighting how artists can “access Sony cameras for content creation”. 

This presumably includes access to kit like the A7, a favourite of YouTubers, or the FX3, which is approved by Netflix for shooting its ‘4k Originals’ series - alongside some of Sony’s beefier cameras. However, it was Sony’s dinky action-cam-on-steroids, the RX0 II, which was used to create content for Smith, presumably in part because of the built-in multi-camera shooting offered by the RXO.

Sony Music can also access services like “virtual production tools” from Pixomondo - the “virtual production, visualisation and VFX company” acquired by Sony Pictures in October 2022. 

This is all about “advancing music innovation”, says Sony, highlighting partnerships that it has with “cutting edge startups” like Move AI. Move AI says it helps...

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Astroworld bellwether cases pushed to next year as more than 300 injury lawsuits settled

The first Astroworld trial won’t now get underway until February next year. Three bellwether cases were due to kick off in court this week, but everything has now been pushed back after Live Nation and Travis Scott settled more than 300 of the lawsuits filed by festival-goers who were injured during the 2021 Astroworld crowd surge, including two of the three bellwether cases. 

Lawyer Scott West told the Houston Chronicle that the bulk of those 300 cases were settled in two deals, one on Friday and one earlier this month. No details were given in court regarding what payments Live Nation and Scott will have to make as part of those deals to the injured festival-goers involved in the lawsuits. 

Although an overall ‘top line’ figure has been agreed, the specifics about how much each injured festival-goer will receive is still to be determined, with experts - known as  ‘special masters’ - being appointed to do just that. “We may have somebody who's had double neck surgery and somebody who had a broken arm”, explained West, “All cases are not created equal”.

The rescheduling of the first trial means that Scott has now withdrawn a motion he filed with the appeals court seeking the urgent disclosure of information about settlement deals agreed by other defendants. His lawyers said this was needed to help inform his defence, but the move, which threatened to further delay the bellwether cases, was heavily criticised by the festival-goers involved in those lawsuits. 

The push back to February also means that Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino has more time to arrange the deposition that he was ordered to give by the Texas Supreme Court in a ruling last week...

Diddy wants gagging order to stop media “carnival” of accusations as his lawyers say constitutional right to fair trial is at risk

Lawyers working for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have written a letter to the court overseeing his criminal prosecution for sex-trafficking and racketeering asking it to issue a wide-ranging gagging order. 

They want to restrict what potential witnesses can say in public about the allegations they have made against Combs - including in civil lawsuits - because, argue the lawyers, constant media coverage and commentary is negatively impacting on Combs’s “constitutional right to a fair trial”. 

That trial should be able to proceed “free from the influence of prejudicial statements in the press”, say Combs’s lawyers, who also note that the court has an “independent obligation to avoid the creation of a ‘carnival atmosphere’ in high-profile cases”. 

With another seven lawsuits filed this weekend, the steady stream of allegations against Combs ensures that what is already a very high profile criminal investigation is rarely out of the headlines. Some of the lawyers involved in lawsuits against Combs have also been very vocal about the allegations being made against the musician, in both the civil cases and the criminal case. 

That includes lawyer Tony Buzbee, who previously said that he had 120 clients who were planning to sue Combs, and that hundreds more had contacted a dedicated phoneline set up by his firm for people who say that they are victims of Combs.

Combs “has been the target of an unending stream of allegations” in the press from “prospective witnesses” and their lawyers, says the letter. This includes “numerous inflammatory extrajudicial statements” aimed at “assassinating Mr Combs’s character”. There have also been...

🎧 Approved: ILĀ

Multifaceted artist and producer ILĀ’s work traverses ethereal, non-binary vocal timbres with dense sonic textures, consistently pushing the boundaries of sound by exploring the intersection of human creativity and technology. 

Their latest single, ‘murmur’, elevates this experimentation to new heights.

Collaborating with AI.Mogen, an AI version of Imogen Heap, the track carries the familiar shiver of Heap’s vocals. ILĀ’s harmonies provide a grounding presence, while the flickering, unpredictable AI elements give the track an otherworldly quality that prickles the senses. 

Co-produced by Heap herself, ‘murmur’ is a bold leap into the future of music, where AI and human artistry can coexist harmoniously.

The process of working with these digitalised voices was transformative for ILĀ. “Almost everything you hear, aside from maybe the kick drum, comes from this AI hybrid of mine and Imogen’s voices... like fractals, revealing more detail as you zoom in”, they explain. 

Heap echoes this sentiment, reflecting, “Creating this mash-up of our voices was really fun... There were all these sounds that we couldn’t physically create, yet they originated from our voices... I loved the freedom, almost the frivolity, of it”. 

🎧 Listen to ‘murmur’ here