The Co-Write Room: Taylor Swift, AI and Trademark Law

Taylor Swift is filing federal trademarks on the sound of her own voice. That's not a quirk of celebrity — it's a signal that the existing legal framework wasn't built for this moment, and that waiting for legislation to catch up is not a strategy. In this episode, Raia connects two stories that look separate but aren't: Swift's trademark filings through TAS Rights Management, and Björn Ulvaeus's demands on behalf of CISAC's five million creators at this week's IMS Ibiza. Together, they reveal a single structural problem at the center of the AI music economy. In this episode: Swift's voice trademark applications — what they cover, what they signal, and why almost no one else has the infrastructure to attempt this The IMS Electronic Music Business Report numbers: 651% revenue growth, 63 million monthly active users, $333 million — and what it means that the artists who trained these models aren't sharing in that 75,000 AI-generated tracks uploaded to Deezer every single day (44% of all new uploads) — and what that kind of competition actually does to a working musician's release Ulvaeus at IMS Ibiza: transparency, opt-out rights, fair payment, and a seat at the table before deals are signed The streaming-era "breakage" parallel — and why the same conditions are forming right now in AI licensing The real story: not AI. The asymmetry between artists with resources and artists without. Before you close this app: If you have unregistered music, demos, or co-writes — look into platforms like ViNIL for registration and protection. If you're signed or distributed through a major partner, ask your admin what AI licensing agreements they're part of. You have a right to know. I'm Raia. This is The Co-Write Room. (00:00) - Cold Open (00:45) - The $333M Number (01:45) - The Deezer Stat (02:20) - Who's Not in the Room (03:10) - Breakage, Again (03:50) - The Asymmetry (04:20) - Action Steps + Outro