What’s up y’all⚡️welcome back to The Dice Roll 🎲 newsletter.

Trending Stories:

Radio’s secret performance payola tactic finally being investigated by the FCC. 🎙️

Radio stations reportedly make a deal with major labels for their artists to perform “charitable events” in exchange for airplay. According to Tuesday’s Digital Music News report, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn shed more light on the situation by saying, “the practice is directly affecting “essentially all artists,” regardless of career stage. “Artists in the industry have told me that it is not unusual for them to perform anywhere from 10 to 50 such shows in any given year. Those just starting out in their career will often perform more.” [Digital Music News]

ReverbNation (part of Bandlab Tech) launches new invite-only program called Levels for indie artists to get financial backing, career support, and personalized services. Artists can now submit their application. [ReverbNation]

Sheesh. It’s been a rough week for OpenAI. 🤖

First, China’s R1 DeepSeek dropped, then after OpenAI’s deep research tool dropped for the $200-a-month pro plan, then HuggingFace AI was also able to recreate OpenAI’s Deep Research tool for open source use.

Now, the humanoid robot company Figure exits their deal with OpenAI after reaching major breakthrough for further vertical alignment. OpenAI also filed a trademark application regarding humanoid robots. According to TechCrunch, the application text references “user-programmable humanoid robots” and “humanoid robots having communication and learning functions for assisting and entertaining people.”

Kanye West’s downfall continues📉

Taking to X(Twitter), Ye began spewing hate speech and racist comments on the state of society. Here’s just a taste of the trash…

Major Headlines 📰

Music Industry 🎵

1. ReverbNation Launches ‘Levels’ Program – An invite-only initiative providing indie artists with financial support and career resources. Read more

2. Bytedance Expands into Music Licensing – TikTok’s parent company files for U.S. patents on a new music licensing and matching app, EasyOde. More details

3. Lil Wayne’s Super Bowl Surprise – Ahead of Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show, Lil Wayne hints at a big reveal during the event. See here

4. Irv Gotti Passes Away at 54 – The Murder Inc. co-founder’s legacy continues to influence the industry. Full story

5. DJ Khaled Scraps Drake Announcement Trailer – Creative differences led to the removal of a teaser for an upcoming project. Learn more

6. Lil Xan Faces Felony Charges Amid Career Revival – The rapper, now three years sober, faces legal trouble stemming from a 2024 Boston show incident. Read update

7. Spotify Reports First Profitable Year Since 2008 – The streaming giant announces financial success for the first time since its launch. Financial details

Technology 🤖 

1. Threads Introduces ‘Shared Interests’ – A new feature allows users to explore and share public feeds within the Feeds tab. Feature details

2. Roblox Sees 20% Stock Drop – A decrease in daily active users affects investor confidence in the gaming platform. Stock analysis

3. Google Shifts AI Weapons Policy – The tech giant reverses its stance on AI weapon development. Policy change

4. Apple SE Rumors & AI Integration – Reports indicate the new iPhone SE will support Apple’s latest AI-driven features. Product leak

5. New AI Tool Streamlines Prompt Management – PromptLayer offers a free solution for efficient AI prompt deployment. More info

6. YouTube Partners with Repurpose.ai – Users will receive 3 free months, making it easy to cross-post TikToks and Reels to Shorts. Partnership details

7. Instagram Custom Grid Editing Coming Soon – Adam Mosseri confirms a feature allowing users to fully rearrange their profile grid. Upcoming feature

Stay tuned for more updates next week!

That’s all for today folks! 🥕

For more tips and thoughts on the music business be sure to follow me on all socials at @chasethedice and feel free to reach out to connect.