Pex, a renowned copyright-scanning tech company, has sounded the alarm within the music industry regarding a potential concern: ‘modified audio.’ This term denotes music tracks that have been altered, notably exemplified by the popular trend of accelerated songs on TikTok and various other modifications designed to evade takedowns. Initially, Pex released a report earlier this year, indicating it had identified hundreds of millions of modified audio tracks on user-generated content, online video platforms, and social networks. Recently, Pex broadened its scope to include regular music streaming services, revealing a similar trend.
According to their recent blog post, Pex claimed that modified audio pervades all Digital Service Providers (DSPs), estimating that at least 1% of all songs on these platforms are altered versions. The report suggested that over 1 million unlicensed, manipulated songs are diverting revenues away from the rightful rightsholders, thus raising concerns within the industry.
To emphasize the prevalence of the issue, the blog post presented various examples of tracks originally from prominent artists such as Halsey, Amy Winehouse, and The Chainsmokers, and Coldplay, underscoring their point.
Certainly, the ulterior motive behind this research is commercial. Pex is aiming to market its Pex Search tool to DSPs as a solution to detect and manage such content. While this motive is evident, this approach may incite legitimate inquiries and scrutiny from rightsholders toward the streaming services involved. This serves as a catalyst for discussions on how the music industry handles the challenges posed by modified audio tracks across different digital platforms.