According to Spotify’s founder and CEO, artificial intelligence will encourage more people to create music in the future and poses no threat to the sector.
Concerns have been raised by artists using machine-learning tools to create music, even by completely fake artists, who may one day replace human artists.
At a press conference held this week at the company’s Stockholm headquarters, Daniel Ek stated, “I’m mostly optimistic and mostly very excited because we’re just beginning to understand this future of creativity that we’re entering.”
I Miss the Old Music Era, Music Today Feels Compromised by Timaya, also read.
Dagens Nyheter, a recent book, and “Mood Machine” by Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish newspaper, accuse Spotify of putting thousands of songs under fictitious AI profiles, thereby avoiding Spotify money by denying real artists their higher royalties.
The assertions have been refuted by Spotify.
What will be creativity with AI in the future if we want real humans to be artists and creators? I’m not sure. What does “music” mean? ek remarked.
He noted that hip hop, which was popular at the time, and electronic dance music, as well as the DJ culture, were initially not regarded as “real music.”
Ek said that any of us can probably write a beat in five or ten minutes, noting that Mozart had to write entire symphonies in his head.
“The tools we currently have are just staggering,” he said.
The more intriguing aspect of AI is that the amount of creativity that creative people will have is going to be insane, he said. “Of course there are very scary potential applications for AI, but there are.”
“Creation is lowering as the barriers to creation shrink.” He predicted that more people would start creating.
Ek claimed that the advancement of AI in the music industry was more of an evolution than a revolution.
678,000,000 users are currently active.
At the end of March, there were 678 million active users on Spotify, of which 268 million were paid subscribers.
The logo of the online music streaming service Spotify is displayed on a tablet screen in this file photo illustration taken on April 19, 2018, in Paris. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE/AFP)
Ek claimed that the business, which turned in its first year of operation in 2024, now had 100 million paying subscribers in Europe alone and hoped to have a billion paying subscribers by the end of the year worldwide.
There is no denying that Spotify’s potential will eventually reach a billion paying subscribers, according to my opinion.
Casper Ruud, the two-time French Open champion, is out after Carlos Alcaraz, the current champion, overcame a blip in form to defeat Fabian Marozsan.
Spanish Open champion Alcaraz won 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 over his Hungarian opponent after starting strong but dropping the second set.
Ruud, the seventh seed, was denied this opportunity after conceding to Portugal’s Nuno Borges 2-6, 6-1, 6-0, to become the second top-10 player to leave early.
He “started to play much better and be very aggressive in the second set.” The 22-year-old said that because he didn’t miss any shots in the second set, it was a little challenging to control his game.
“But I’m really happy that I kept up my strength and mental vigor.” I improved as I played, which made for a really good final two sets.
Alcaraz won titles in Monte Carlo and Rome before the French Open, and he showed it right away when he broke three times to win the first set within 28 minutes.
Marozsan broke early in a scrappy second set before overcoming the second seed to level the match.
Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion, did a good job of surviving the final fifteen minutes to survive.
Ruud struggles with injury after losing.
Ruud, who reached the French Open final in 2022 and 2023, is the second top 10 seed to be eliminated from the competition this year following Taylor Fritz’s first-round exit.
The 26-year-old Norwegian won the first set well but had a knee problem toward the end, giving up just one game in the second set.
Borges, 28, who is ranked 41st overall, made it to Paris for the first time in his career with victory.
Ruud said, “Hopefully it’s not too serious, but I’ve been having knee pain for the past few weeks.”
“Practically speaking, it’s simpler to steer clear of particular movements and shots. However, you have no control over how you play matches.
In the first two sets, I still managed to play good tennis. I didn’t want to retire because it’s a Slam.
After defeating Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, Borges will face Australian 25th seed Alexei Popyrin.
Lorenzo Musetti, an eighth-seed from Italy, defeated Colombia’s Daniel Galan 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 to advance to the third round.
Since Israel’s ceasefire was broken in early March, thousands of Palestinians have been starved to death in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis has been largely caused by these key events.
Days after the newly appointed chancellor claimed Kyiv’s Western allies had lifted range restrictions on their missiles and would allow Ukraine to use them to strike deep inside Russian territory, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with German President Friedrich Merz in Berlin.
Merz made the announcement on Monday as Russia carried out heavy aerial bombardments on Ukraine and both sides launched tit-for-tat drone attacks.
That statement rekindled Kyiv’s optimism and renewed interest in Germany’s request for Taurus missiles, which the war-torn nation has long demanded.
However, Merz and Zelenskyy made a promise to the Ukrainian leader that Germany would support their country in developing long-range missiles on its soil in a joint press conference on Wednesday. He did not make any commitments regarding the Taurus.
Germany, which supplies military aid after the United States, has been a major supporter of Ukraine. Former German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who did not want Germany to be directly involved in the Ukraine war, resisted providing Kyiv with Taurus missiles. He agreed to provide Leopard 2 battle tanks in January 2023 after pressure from his NATO allies. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has warned that NATO will go “at war with his country” if Western nations permit Ukraine to attack with long-range weapons inside of Russia.
Merz has increased efforts to keep Ukraine’s support in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s administration’s efforts to end the conflict since taking office on May 6. Trump has been critical of the US aid to Ukraine under his predecessor Joe Biden. Trump, who has criticized Putin, was angered by recent, more frequent Russian aerial assaults against Ukraine.
The Taurus, in Ukraine’s opinion, would change the course of the conflict.
Here’s what to know about the weapons:
How do Taurus missiles work?
A German-Swedish long-range air missile with a low-cruise range of 500 kilometers (300 miles) can accurately fire heavy explosives at targets.
It was manufactured in 1998 through a joint partnership between the German missile company MBDA Deutschland and Sweden’s Saab Bofors Dynamics.
The missile can penetrate deep or hard targets, such as ships, communication centers, ammunition storage facilities, and bunkers, with the aid of a powerful warhead. Without GPS, the missile can also travel for a long distance.
Although Ukraine already uses Western-provided missiles from the US and the United Kingdom, some experts and Ukrainian officials believe this projectile would be the strongest Western missile to be used by Ukraine if Germany gives a green light because the others have only half of the range of the Taurus and cannot carry as much ammunition.
During a meeting of the European Political Community in Tirana, Albania on May 16, 2025, from left to right, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speak with US President Donald Trump by phone.
Why has Germany not yet given these missiles to Ukraine?
Scholz’s left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD) -led coalition government was cautious of escalating the war and possibly drawing in Germany, and by default, NATO.
Moscow has already made a number of warnings that Ukraine would be seen as the country that is directly entangled in the conflict if it fired any Western missiles into Russian territory. The SPD’s opposition to war is also at play here.
Germany – which currently provides Ukraine with short-range rockets, including the M142 HIMARS MLRS and MARS II MLRS – and other weapons-providing Western allies initially restricted Ukraine from using their weapons inside Russia but allowed Kyiv to hit Russian targets within Ukraine.
However, former US President Biden lifted restrictions on US weapons in November, allowing Ukraine to use them in the Kursk region of Russia. When Kyiv had launched an unexpected offensive against the border region, that was when. Some experts said lifting the restrictions was a major help to Ukraine. The majority of the territory it had seized has since been lost, but it still continues to hold some Russian land.
Russia tapped a top-secret discussion between German military leaders in March 2024 during which they discussed whether Scholz might be able to persuade him to send the Taurus to Ukraine and whether the missile could devastate the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to Ukraine’s occupied Crimea region.
Is Germany changing its stance now and will it matter?
Under Merz’s new administration, Berlin appeared to be ready to change its tone.
Merz, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had pressed Scholz to send the Taurus to Ukraine and for Germany to adopt a stronger stance against Russia as an opposition member.
During his election campaign, Merz promised to support Ukraine more concretely, including by sending long-range missiles. The SPD is also a part of his coalition government, though.
In what appeared to be a compromise position, Merz promised Zelenskyy German support on Wednesday when they agreed to launch long-range missiles on Ukrainian territory. The chancellor promised that financing for the project would be discussed subsequently at the Group of Seven summit to be held in Canada in June.
According to Atlantic Council analyst Michael Bociurkiw, the pledge is still “pretty significant,” adding that it was one of Germany’s first genuine pledges to Ukraine. He said, “I believe it shows that Ukraine has capabilities.”
On Monday, Merz had spoken to the public broadcaster WDR about the range restrictions enforced by NATO members and said there were “no longer any range restrictions for weapons that have been delivered to Ukraine – neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, and not by the Americans either”.
Merz’s comments, which did not specifically mention Germany sending the Taurus to Ukraine, sparked a speculative frenzy in the eyes of many analysts. Merz made it clear on Tuesday that he was specifically referring to his support for Ukraine’s right to strike deeply inside Russia.
“Hence yesterday in Berlin, I was describing something that already happened months ago”, Merz said.
However, Merz’s comments received criticism from both his own CDU and the SPD. Some people claimed that his statements and actual events were contradictory.
CDU lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter said in a post on Tuesday on X that Germany was “irrelevant” in the long-range missile conversation because it has refused to send Ukraine the Taurus and he saw no willingness to do that under the current coalition.
We should also refrain from making contradictory statements about this issue. Despite Russia’s unprecedented escalation, I continue to see no political will to act appropriately and with strength and consistency in the coalition. Such statements are therefore overall unhelpful because they highlight Europe’s weakness to Russia”, he wrote.
Additionally, SPD head and vice-chancellor Lars Klingbeil stated at a press conference on Tuesday that no restrictions on the use of German weapons in Ukraine had been changed.
Even if Germany sends the Taurus at this point, according to expert John Foreman, who is associated with the UK think tank Chatham House, it might have a more symbolic and tactical impact.
A Taurus delivery would arrive “too late to change the overall trajectory of the war”, Foreman told Al Jazeera, adding that Germany would have to supply a significant number to make a difference.
Over the past three years, Russia has developed more skill at dispersal, air defense, and camouflage to complicate targeting, he continued.
What other long-range missiles does Ukraine possess?
From the US, Ukraine has received about 40 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), which can fire ballistic missiles carrying cluster munitions up to a range of 300km (190 miles). Russian military installations, runways, and energy infrastructure can all be struck by them. Six ATACMS were used by Ukraine on a Russian weapons depot in the Bryansk border region after Biden lifted the ban on using US weapons inside of Russia. In March, The Associated Press news agency reported that Ukraine ran out of ATACMS in January, and it’s unclear if the US has supplied more since then.
In addition, the UK delivered Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine as the first nation to do so in May 2023. A cruise missile launched from an aircraft rather than a ground is the Storm Shadow, which has a price of about $1 million each. It has a range of up to 250km (155 miles) and can reach deep into Russian territory from Ukrainian airspace to destroy bunkers and weapon storage facilities. Ukraine has used them to attack high-value military installations in occupied areas like Crimea and Luhansk. A Russian military general in Kursk and several North Korean soldiers reportedly fighting for Moscow were killed when Ukraine launched the missiles into Russian territory for the first time in November. One hundred to 200 units have reportedly been delivered.
Scalp, France’s version of the Storm Shadow, has comparable capabilities. Both missile components are produced in the UK, France, and Italy by European manufacturer MBDA, who built them in a UK factory.
How might Russia react to the news?
Russia has not commented on Germany’s decision to work with Ukraine to build long-range missiles in the nation.
Russia has consistently warned that any attack on the country by Western-provided weapons would be seen as an escalate, as Putin predicted in September, which could lead to nuclear retaliation. But Merz’s move attempts to circumvent that threat.
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova repeatedly stated that Russia would launch a Taurus strike as a result of Germany’s “direct” involvement in the conflict following Merz’s victory in the election in April and his continued assurances that he would send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Merz’s comments this week have also had an impact on the Kremlin. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Merz “has confused everyone, if not himself”, after the vice chancellor denied that such decisions had been made. Poskov cautioned Berlin against an escalation, calling it an “extremely dangerous decision” that would conflict with current peace efforts.
He claimed that adding more confrontation would literally be several steps in the right direction.
Zakharova added that Germany would “drive itself deeper into the hole in which the Kyiv regime it supports has long been”.
Rio Ferdinand has confirmed that he will step down from TNT Sports as a pundit.
The 46-year-old former Manchester United and England defender has worked for the business, which was formerly known as BT Sport, for ten years, but will step down to concentrate on “other business interests” and “time with family.”
The Champions League final between Paris St-Germain and Inter Milan on Saturday (20:00 BST) will Ferdinand play in Munich.
It has been a privilege to talk about the game I love for ten years since retiring from football, Ferdinand said in a statement posted on his X account.
I have a lot of memories with me as I turn the pages to the next chapter. He continued, “I’m excited about what the future holds: spending more time with my family, concentrating on Rio Ferdinand Presents, and my other business interests.”
Davide Ancelotti wants the Ibrox job, and he recently had fresh conversations with Rangers about the managerial vacancy they had last week in London. Further discussions are planned for the coming days.
Representatives of the Scottish Premiership club contacted the Italian earlier this month, and he was able to present his ideas at a meeting in person.
The Ibrox club and the Ancelotti, who has worked under their father Carlo at Real Madrid, had a number of conversations during which they spoke.
The 35-year-old believes that the discussions went well, that he is the club’s first choice, and hopes a resolution can be reached in the near future.
Luka Modric, a 39-year-old midfielder who is leaving the Spanish giants this summer but hasn’t yet made a decision regarding his next move, is one of the Real players who has spoken about the possibility of him becoming the next Rangers manager.
However, the Rangers takeover has slowed things down.
The current Ibrox board and current chief executive Patrick Stewart are leading the manager search.
However, Kevin Thelwell, the club’s prospective new owners, an American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises Global Football Group, are also in conversation.
Ancelotti’s plans for his new position as coach of the Brazilian national team had been anticipated, but he now has changed as he works toward establishing himself as a head coach.
Rangers must act quickly to capture Ancelotti and possibly Modric, according to analysis.
Rangers are now running out of time.
They run the risk of missing out on Ancelotti if a decision is not reached by the end of this week or, at the very least, by the first week of June.
The Italian has three other high-level opportunities from clubs that value Ancelotti’s expertise, his innovative approach, and ability to connect every aspect of a club: from the ownership, dressing room, to the media, and the boardroom.
That’s a result of his father’s influence at Bayern, Napoli, Everton, Real Madrid, and his own conviction that clubs should foster lasting cultures rather than just aim for quick victories.
He wants to leave behind a lasting legacy that will last the duration of his absence, including an identity, a structure, and a method of operation.
Ancelotti envisions a technical staff with five or six specialists, each specialized in a particular field of play, rather than a strict hierarchy of “manager” and “assistant.” It is methodical, long-term, and collaborative.
Images courtesy of Getty
People who know him describe him as a humble, self-assured character who is completely confident in his abilities. He has spent years shadowing his father for the most part.
He was widely regarded by players as the creator of numerous contemporary improvements at Real Madrid. Some believe that without Davide by Carlo’s side, he wouldn’t have won as much in his second season at the Bernabeu.
And Modric is one of the players who is aware of it. Davide eluded saying no when asked if he wanted to join Rangers.
Whether or not that is accurate is evidence of Davide’s gravitational pull, which is supported by elite players as well as a well-known surname.
Other players have requested that Ancelotti transport them to Scotland.
He won’t be visiting Brazil in the upcoming international window. That is instructive. His main concern is getting elsewhere. If he had no other options on the table, he would only go with his father.
