Yandex.Music

2024: Disclosure of the number of deleted content at the request of the authorities

The Yandex Music service published a transparency report on November 2, 2024, according to which from April to September 2024, the service removed 4941 items of content at the request of government agencies, which is 0.0066% of the total catalog.

According to RBC, during the specified period, the audio streaming service received 68 requests from government agencies to remove content on 69 links, including music tracks, videos, podcast episodes and album covers.

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Freepik

The analysis showed that 98% of content removed at the request of the authorities had less than 100 listens per month before the time of removal, while 60% of the materials were not listened to at any time.

As part of internal moderation, the service assigned the marking "18 +" to 40,090 music tracks. 2324 compositions were excluded from the general recommendations, which could cause discomfort among a wide audience, while access to them was preserved in users' personal collections and through search.

During the reporting period, 135 tracks containing, according to experts, violence, offensive or shocking content were also removed. Copyright holders are notified of such cases and can either make changes to the content and reload it or appeal.

Compared to the first half of 2023, when 3,246 content items were removed, and the third quarter of the same year with 1,087 deletions, the number of moderated content increased. The reasons for the removal were the dissemination of inaccurate information about hostilities, discrediting the authorities and the army, as well as violation of the legislation banning the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations.

The company emphasizes that 75% of content removed for violating the rules of the service had less than 100 listens per month before removal, which indicates the preventive nature of moderation.^[1]

2022

Users were allowed to upload their tracks to the service

On November 7, 2022, it became known about the beginning of Yandex.Music testing of the user content download (UGC) function. Downloadable tracks will be checked for copyright and will be available for public use.

According to Kommersant, by downloading users' own content, Yandex expects to expand the music catalog, which has been reduced due to the consequences of Russia's hostilities in Ukraine. Music labels Sony Music, WARP and others are removing their works from Russian streaming services.

Yandex.Music allowed users to download their tracks

According to the editor-in-chief of InterMedia agency Yevgeny Safronov, the function can gain popularity among novice artists if Yandex qualitatively catalogs their tracks and promotes them through recommendations to users. However, user music will be of interest to the mass listener with a small degree of probability, he stressed, since "all the demanded music on which you can earn at least something has already been signed by labels and posted by them in Yandex.Music.

Among the problems that Yandex will have to deal with are artists who first uploaded music to the service on their own, and then signed a contract with the label. However, the new feature is unlikely to lead to a deterioration in relations with distributors. According to Sergey Babich, producer of Colisium International Music Forum, "if user tracks are not monetized, then Yandex is unlikely to spoil relations with distributors."

Since 2017, Yandex.Music users can already upload their tracks to the service, but only for personal use. Tracks downloaded by users do not fall into the general directory and cannot be found in the search on the service. This functionality is designed to listen to music purchased on other platforms, download their own tracks and other similar scenarios, Yandex explained TASS on November 7, 2022.^[2]

The advent of personalized search for iOS

Yandex Music has significantly updated the search in the application. This was Yandex announced on August 18, 2022. By taking into account the user's recommendations and music profile, he became personalized, and also learned to understand the context of the request and search for songs by text.

Search throughout the Yandex Music media library is now personalized and, thanks to the recommendation algorithm, takes into account the musical interests of the user: for example, first shows the artist who is more interested in him, and after that - his namesake or group with the same name. So, fans of indie rock, typing the request "Smith," will see the cult British group The Smiths first on the list, and fans of modern pop music - Grammy winner, popular singer Sam Smith.

In the updated search for Yandex Music, you can now search for content immediately in the desired category, be it artists, tracks, playlists, books or podcasts. In addition, Yandex Music itself learned to understand where exactly the request was set. For example, if the listener at that moment leafed through the artist's page on the service, the search will first show his tracks, and if he watched the podcast tab, first the search will show suitable issues. The same goes for searching albums and any playlists, including "I Like," as well as books or a children's section.

Yandex Music already has lyrics that can be viewed in sing along mode, and now the service has learned to take them into account in the search. For example, if you liked an unfamiliar song on the radio, in a restaurant or on the street, but it turned out to remember only the chorus - you can enter its text into the search and immediately see which song it is from.

The updated search is already working in the Yandex Music application for iOS and will soon be available on Android^[3].

The appearance of neuromusics

Neuromusyka appeared in Yandex Music. Yandex announced this on August 2, 2022.

Neuromusic is an endless melody that algorithms generate in real time, and the Yandex Music recommendation system makes it special for each user. The three modes available - "calm," "inspiration" and "vigor" - will help focus on creativity, study, work, training, reading and any other activities that require high concentration.

Neuromusic is rhythmically verified: there are no words or pauses in it that could distract a person. To create it, musical parts written by a neural network in different genres were used - rock, hip-hop, pop, electronics or ambient. The parts were voiced by virtual instruments, and tens of thousands of compositions and transitions made from this form millions of variations, generating an endless melody in real time.

The Yandex Music recommendation system also perfectly understands what parts Neuromusyk consists of and can focus on specific samples inside it. Thanks to this, she knows what exactly she plays at every moment in time, and can very quickly respond to the likes and dislikes that the user puts, that is, it is even better to fall into his musical taste.

You can listen to Neuromusyk in Yandex Music mobile applications, as well as on Yandex Station - just say the voice command "Alice, turn on Neuromusyk."

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