Header Ads Widget

Ticker

6/recent/ticker-posts

beyonce youtube

Katy Mayıs 31, 2021

beyonce youtube

Latest Deepfake Controversy Raises Legal And Ethical Questions In Music Industry - NPR

Posted: 15 Dec 2020 12:00 AM PST

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Maybe you have heard of deepfakes, super-realistic videos that use artificial intelligence and other tools to make people appear to say or do things that they never said or did. Celebrities, politicians, everyday people have all been victims. The latest deepfake controversy hit the music business. YR Media's Nimah Gobir reports that the implications are far-reaching.

NIMAH GOBIR: You probably know Shawn Corey Carter by a different name - Jay-Z, multiplatinum rapper who also happens to be Beyonce's husband. He's got one of the most recognizable voices in all of popular music.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "99 PROBLEMS")

JAY-Z: (Rapping) If you having girl problems, I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems, but a b**** ain't one. I got the rap patrol...

GOBIR: That's Jay-Z on his track "99 Problems" from "The Black Album," which debuted at No. 1 in 2003.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "99 PROBLEMS")

JAY-Z: (Rapping) If you don't like my lyrics, you can press fast forward. Got beef with radio if I don't play they show.

GOBIR: And here's his voice on a different hit from the 1600s.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "JAY-Z RAPS THE 'TO BE, OR NOT TO BE' SOLILOQUY FROM HAMLET (SPEECH SYNTHESIS)")

AUTOMATED VOICE #1: (Imitating Jay-Z) To be or not to be - that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...

GOBIR: This voice spitting Shakespeare is not Jay-Z. It's not even human. It's an audio deepfake, something UC Berkeley professor Hany Farid knows how to make because he specializes in spotting them.

HANY FARID: There are recognizable patterns in how we speak - the tone, the intonation, where we put the emphasis. So there's a way of capturing mathematically a person's speech. And the machine-learning algorithms are simply learning that pattern of speech and then synthesizing.

GOBIR: So basically, you take a bunch of audio. Let's say Jay-Z talking.

FARID: And you train a machine-learning algorithm to synthesize speech in their voice so that at the end of the training on hours and hours of audio, you type at the keyboard whatever you want that person to say, and it says it in their voice.

GOBIR: Like George Bush doing "In Da Club" by 50 Cent...

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "GEORGE W. BUSH READS 'IN DA CLUB' BY 50 CENT (SPEECH SYNTHESIS)")

AUTOMATED VOICE #2: (Imitating George W. Bush) Go, shorty. It's your birthday. We gon' (ph) party like it's your birthday. And we gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday.

GOBIR: ...And Barack Obama reading Notorious B.I.G.'s "Juicy."

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "BARACK OBAMA READS 'JUICY' BY THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. (SPEECH SYNTHESIS)")

AUTOMATED VOICE #3: (Imitating Barack Obama) You know what I'm saying? It's all good, baby, baby. It was all a dream. I used to read Word Up! magazine.

GOBIR: All of these clips are the work of a developer and YouTuber named Vocal Synthesis, who won't reveal their real name or say why they choose to remain anonymous. But Vocal Synthesis did tell us this. They make sure to label all of their deepfakes computer generated using text-to-speech technology. So it's not like anyone's going to think Jay-Z's actually covering Billy Joel.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "JAY-Z COVERS 'WE DIDN'T START THE FIRE' BY BILLY JOEL (SPEECH SYNTHESIS)")

AUTOMATED VOICE #1: (Imitating Jay-Z) We didn't start the fire. It was always burning since the world's been turning.

GOBIR: Try telling that to Jay-Z, though. Vocal Synthesis says Jay's company, Roc Nation, filed a takedown request to withdraw the videos from YouTube for copyright infringement. Roc Nation's parent company, Live Nation, didn't respond to our request for comment. YouTube removed the videos for a hot second but then reposted them, which begs the question...

PATRICE PERKINS: Do I think that there was actual copyright infringement in how they used it? Probably not.

GOBIR: Patrice Perkins is an attorney with the Creative Genius Law firm. Even though a person's voice is not covered under U.S. copyright law, courts have ruled that the voice is part of someone's identity, so it can be protected in certain circumstances. Both Bette Midler and Tom Waits have successfully sued when companies used someone imitating their distinctive voices in commercials. And even though Vocal Synthesis is posting their creations for free...

PERKINS: That is the slippery slope for the artist, and that's the danger for the artist who is not aware and maybe not monitoring. And then they look up, and all of a sudden, they're in a General Mills commercial that they didn't perform for.

GOBIR: So what does all this mean for artists who aren't at Jay-Z's level and don't have the clout or the money to protect themselves? Jessica Brown, who goes by Money Maka, is not OK with a deepfakery.

JESSICA BROWN: Because my voice and my face are my property whether it's copyrighted or not. It's like somebody telling you you don't own your own body.

GOBIR: Brown worries about what's lost when technology replaces music's raw human energy.

BROWN: I thought the point of making music was to be creative. Everybody has their own spin to their own music. But if robots are making music and they can make any specific genre of music, then what are we even doing at this point?

GOBIR: She's also concerned about appropriation, especially given the history of Black art being used without permission, recognition or compensation. Attorney Patrice Perkins brings it back to Jay-Z.

PERKINS: That is a voice that, no matter what, we know is Jay-Z. It wasn't just a Black voice. Like, it was a specific Black voice that is representative of a culture of people.

GOBIR: Whether you're into it or not, technology that can make people do or say anything is here. And because it changes so fast, the laws are struggling to keep up. So for now at least, it's up to music lovers and makers to try to separate the real from the fake. For NPR News, I'm Nimah Gobir.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMPIRE STATE OF MIND")

JAY-Z: (Rapping) Me, I'm out that Bed-Stuy.

KELLY: And that story was produced by YR Media, a national network of young journalists and artists.

Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio record.

Beyoncé's Foundation to Donate $500,000 to People Facing Evictions - Yahoo Entertainment

Posted: 23 Dec 2020 09:29 AM PST

Image via Getty/David M. Benett/Dave Benett/WireImage

With the second phase of the BeyGOOD Impact Fund's rollout, Beyoncé is providing relief for families who need it most.

With the housing moratorium currently set to end on Dec. 26, many are facing foreclosures and evictions. As a continuation of the small business-centered first base of the BeyGOOD Impact Fund, the team is giving out grants worth $5,000 to individuals and families who may be facing foreclosure or eviction this holiday season.

"When we were faced with the pandemic caused by COVID-19, BeyGOOD created a plan to make a difference," a rep said in a statement shared to Beyoncé's site this week. "We assisted organizations across the country that were providing people with basic needs like food, water, household supplies, and COVID testing. We also provided mental health support. We then launched our BeyGOOD Small Business Impact fund and to date over 250 small businesses have received $10K grants."

For those interested in the housing grants, all necessary documentation must be sent to the NAACP. The application process opens on Jan. 7, at which point 100 people will be selected. Grants will be disbursed in late January, followed by a second round of applications opening in February. Click here for more info.

Earlier this month, Beyoncé and team Parkwood put their energies toward helping replenish the low food supplies of food banks across the country following the Thanksgiving holiday. Beyoncé also released a list of food banks and pantries who urgently need assistance. Peep that list in full here.

Related Articles

More Complex

Sign up for the Complex Newsletter for breaking news, events, and unique stories.

Follow Complex on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok

Everything We Know About Beyoncé's New Disney+ Film | Stream Queens - ET Live

Posted: 31 Jul 2020 11:16 AM PDT

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Everything We Know About Beyoncé's New Disney+ Film | Stream Queens  ET Live

Beyoncé’s ‘Halo’ video has reached 1 billion YouTube views - Houston Chronicle

Posted: 02 Apr 2020 12:00 AM PDT

Beyoncé's 'Halo' is her first video to reach 1 billion YouTube views. Photo: Joey Guerra/Youtube screengrab

Beyoncé has joined another billionaire's club.

The Houston native's video for 2008 single "Halo" is her first to reach 1 billion views on YouTube. They reported the feat Wednesday. Bow down.

MUSIC SAVES: Houston band donates T-shirt sales to combat coronavirus

The dreamy clip features actor Michael Ealy as B's love interest. It's awash in hazy light and muted colors and was directed by Philip Andelman.

"Halo" was a top five hit and won best female pop vocal performance at the 52nd annual Grammys. It's from Beyoncé's 2008 double album "I Am ... Sasha Fierce."

An alternate video surfaced in 2010 with a much darker storyline.

Beyoncé's five most-viewed videos are, in order: "Halo," "Single Ladies," "Drunk in Love," "7/11" and "Crazy in Love."

Joey Guerra is the music critic for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter. Get experts' picks for concerts, kids' stuff, fine arts, movies and more by subscribing to the Preview entertainment newsletter.

  • Joey Guerra
    Joey Guerra

    Joey Guerra is the music critic for the Houston Chronicle. He also covers various aspects of pop culture. He has reviewed hundreds of concerts and interviewed hundreds of celebrities, from Justin Bieber to Dolly Parton to Beyonce. He's appeared as a regular correspondent on Fox26 and was head judge and director of the Pride Superstar singing competition for a decade. He has been named journalist of the year multiple times by both OutSmart Magazine and the FACE Awards. He also covers various aspects of pop culture, including the local drag scene and "RuPaul's Drag Race."

Need last-minute Christmas gift ideas? These digital subscriptions and gift cards don't need wrapping - USA TODAY

Posted: 23 Dec 2020 01:22 PM PST

CLOSE

Video games were a big hit in 2020, but the year isn't over. Here's how to save money on some games and consoles. USA TODAY

Time is running out, holiday shoppers. Shipping deadlines have passed and the cutoff for curbside pickup and local delivery soon will arrive. 

Luckily, just as broadband delivers movies, TV and games to keep folks occupied during the coronavirus pandemic, so too can it help solve shopping problems.

There's a wide selection of gifts that can be delivered virtually, almost simultaneously, bypassing brick-and-mortar stores, the need to wrap and long lines at the post office, FedEx or UPS counter.

And you can find something for almost anyone on your shopping list – and at a price to fit your budget.

Of course, you can always send gift certificates of various monetary value to be redeemed for a gift of choice from retailers such as Amazon, Target and Walmart. But come on, you can do better than that.

Note: If the gift card or subscription giving process doesn't suit your plans, remember you can always buy gift cards online and at major retailers or convenience stores and send the codes directly to your gift recipient – perhaps with a photo or video of your procrastinating self. 

Stumped on what to get this season?: These subscriptions gifts offer perfect fix

Gift ideas: 35 magical gifts for Disney lovers this holiday season

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Last-minute video game gifts

Nearly everyone plays video games of some kind. If the person on your list is a fan of Sony's PlayStation, you could gift a subscription to the PlayStation Plus service ($59.99 for a year, $9.99 monthly) which includes online gaming access, discounts and two free games each month.

Another option: a digital gift of PlayStation Now so they can stream hundreds of PS2, PS3 and PS4 games on their PS4 or personal computer. You can find retailers who sell PS Plus, PS Now and PlayStation store cards on the PlayStation site.

Similarly, those devoted to Microsoft's Xbox may like a subscription to Xbox Gold (starts at $9.99 for three months) or Xbox Game Pass, which lets players stream 100 or so games (starts at $9.99 monthly) on their Xbox or PC. You can also spring for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes both plans for $14.99 monthly.

However, Microsoft currently has a promotion giving someone their first three months of Game Pass Ultimate for just $1. So maybe a Xbox Game Card would be a better choice. You can gift games directly through your Xbox, if you have one, and through your Microsoft account. 

Nintendo sells eShop cards valued between $10 and $50, which lets players buy games for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS handheld or Wii U console. 

For PC gamers, you can send a gift through the Steam service – or find a Steam gift card at stores and online retailers – and the Epic Games store. 

Have a "Fortnite" fan on your list? You can also buy V-Bucks cards ($7.99-up) online and at retail, too. Those are redeemed by players to spice up and enhance their game. The same goes for the building game Roblox; gift cards are available on the game's site and at retailers.

For mobile phone gamers, you can opt for a Google Play card or Apple gift card to use in the App Store. 

Or if you think the person you are shopping for might like to try playing games on their big TV, but doesn't have a game system you can purchase a Google Stadia Premiere Edition kit ($99.99, on Google's store and at BestBuy.com), which comes with a three-month trial of Google's cloud gaming service, plus controller and Google Chromecast to connect.

Video games: These are good options for kids or teens yearning to connect with friends

What to stream during the holidays: 'Wonder Woman 1984' on HBO Max, Pixar's 'Soul' on Disney+

Streaming video gift suggestions

Many of us are using stay-at-home orders during the pandemic to watch lots of streaming video – making it a perfect gift.

You can find gift cards online and at retailers for Netflix – it just added the new George Clooney movie "The Midnight Sky" – Amazon Prime Video (it has "Sound of Metal") and Disney+ , which gets Pixar's "Soul" on Christmas Day. Disney+ gifts can also be used for adding Hulu (starts at $5.99 monthly) and ESPN+  as part of a subscription bundle ($12.99 monthly). You can also gift a year subscription to ESPN+ on its own ($49.99, to new subscribers only) or buy Hulu gift cards online and at retail.

Other video gift suggestions include YouTube gift cards, which can be used to pay for YouTube TV ($64.99 monthly), which streams more than 70 channels including many local stations, or for YouTube Premium ($11.99 monthly) so there are no ads on YouTube videos or on music using YouTube Music. You can also download content. (YouTube Music is available separately for $9.99 monthly, also.)

Disney+: Subscription service is raising its prices in 2021 — here's how to save

Streaming wars: Can Disney outspend Netflix on streaming content? It might not need to.

Sling TV gift cards are available online and at stores for the live service (starts at $30 monthly), which has more than 50 channels available.

There's no direct way to currently gift HBO Max ($69.99 for six months with current special offer) – "Wonder Woman 1984" lands there on Christmas Day – or AT&T TV ($64.99 monthly, 90+ channels including HBO Max), so beyond sharing your sign-in credentials, you could use PayPal or Venmo to send them an amount to use towards a subscription.

Qello is a streaming service devoted to musical performances. You can send gifts starting $29.99 at for three months. Its library of concert films include "Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden" and Queen's "Live at Wembley Stadium," and documentaries such as the Beatles film "Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years" and "Beyonce: Life is But a Dream."

There's also The Criterion Channel ($10.99 monthly or $99.99 for a year) with more than 1,000 films and regularly updated offerings – current specials include three films directed by Barbra Streisand ("Yentl," "The Prince of Tides," and "The Mirror Has Two Faces"). And Acorn TV ($59.99, one year) with TV and movies from the U.K., Australia and other countries.

Last-minute gifts for music lovers

Music lovers can never have enough tunes – or options to listen. You can give them a gift card to Spotify ($9.99 monthly), Amazon for its subscription Amazon Music services (starting at $7.99 monthly), Apple Music or Tidal ($9.99-up), which offers better than CD-quality sound. Retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart will send those via email. (Apple and Amazon cards can also be used for other purchases including e-books and movies.)

Another music service, Qobuz, which touts the best high-res catalog in the world, has gift cards for three-month, six-month and full-year subscriptions (starting at $44.97)

If someone you are shopping for is a fans of vinyl LPs, Vinyl Me Please sends out a record of the month in a choice of three tracks: Essentials, Classics or Hip-Hop. You can gift subscriptions of three months ($119) up to one year ($399).

Craft Recordings, which sells audiophile vinyl, CDs and merchandise – including Big Star T-shirts and Stax Records hoodies and beanies – has e-gift cards starting at $10. Make sure to tell the person you are gifting to that the site has 20% off sitewide Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Magnolia Record Club. The collection comes with one vinyl record per month as well listening notes about the release (starts at $79 for three months).

Third Man Records, run by Jack White (The White Stripes, Dead Weather), has a  subscription ($65 quarterly or $240 annually) that every three months sends out a limited edition vinyl package plus other things such as posters, photo books and patches, as well as access to exclusive online content.

Last-minute libations

If you can't literally hand a cocktail or beer to your friend or family member, you can give them a gift to be redeemed at a growing fleet of booze delivery services.

In addition to Drizly and Saucey, recommended by colleague Jennifer Jolly, Tavour delivers craft beer from 47 states (but can deliver only to 26 states). Gift cards start at $25 and special gift boxes start at $35.

Want to send something stronger? ReserveBar delivers wine and spirits across much of the U.S. (Select a product and states it can be shipped to will appear.) You can order gift cards starting at $10.

Also, most local breweries are now doing home deliveries and selling gift cards and subscriptions. Just Google "craft breweries near me" for ideas. With the challenges of the pandemic, they could use your business, too.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/shopping/2020/12/23/christmas-gifts-subscriptions-gift-cards-last-minute-ideas/3944159001/
Tags:

Yorum Gönder

0 Yorumlar