DIMA Digest: July/August 2026
September 8, 2026 | DIMA Digest Newsletter
DIMA Appoints Alyssa Slaimen as Vice President, Government & External Affairs
In July, DIMA welcomed Alyssa Slaimen as the new Vice President, Government & External Affairs. Slaimen joins from the office of Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), where she led the Senator’s portfolio on intellectual property and artificial intelligence. Her work included legislation currently before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, on the use of copyrighted works in training generative AI models. During a time where the rules are being written around AI, copyright, and streaming, Slaimen brings the direct legislative experience that DIMA’s growing policy work demands.
A Conversation with Graham Davies of DIMA | Your Morning Coffee Podcast
Labels for Music Created with A.I. Could Join Explicit Lyrics Warnings | The New York Times
Digital Media Association Appoints Alyssa Slaimen as VP, Government & External Affairs | Music Week
DIMA Responds to New AI Labeling Program from the Recorded Music Community
In July, the recorded music community announced a proposal for a new voluntary track-level labeling program to identify generative artificial intelligence in sound recordings. The proposal suggests labels, similar to labels used to note explicit lyrics, to indicate whether a recording has been “AI-Generated” or AI-Assisted”.
Following the announcement, DIMA President and CEO, Graham Davies, responded with the following statement:
“DIMA has long advocated for the creators, owners, and distributors of music to provide accurate and timely metadata on all music released and distributed to streaming services. We are following today’s announcement closely and look forward to receiving more detailed and accurate AI metadata, which will strengthen our ability to give fans the transparency they deserve. That information flows best when it travels the entire path from creator to fan, and our members rely on industry partners to make that possible. Our members look forward to continuing to work with the labels, producers, and artist and distributors, as well as other industry stakeholders and standards bodies such as DDEX, to build a robust supply chain in which consumers can trust.”
DIMA Attends Ottawa BluesFest to Celebrate the Role of Music Streaming
DIMA celebrated with 250,000 fans at the Ottawa BluesFest the role of music streaming in developing and supporting the best of local, regional, and national artists. The festival followed a week of dialogue and engagement with stakeholders in Ottawa around the important new direction on the Online Streaming Act being announced by the Canadian Government. Messages we were keen to promote:
- Canadian artists were discovered 3.5 billion times globally via music streaming last year.
- Streaming has helped Canada become the world’s third-largest exporter of music.
- Streaming is now the number one-way Canadians discover new music.
The event provided an opportunity for DIMA President and CEO, Graham Davies to meet with members as we continue to do the vital work of developing policy in Canada that can unlock future growth for the benefit of both artists and consumers.
DIMA Submits Comments to Australian Government on a new National Cultural Policy
DIMA welcomed the opportunity to provide input to the Australian Government as they develop a new National Cultural Policy. In its prior National Cultural Policy, the Australian Government explained that one of its goals was to “ensure that Australian music remains visible, discoverable and easily accessible across platforms to all Australians”. In DIMA’s submission, we strongly encourage the preservation of open digital markets for music, which have resulted in years of steady growth in Australia. We also caution against any action that would unintentionally limit consumer choice, hamper growth, erode affordability, or otherwise impede the success we have seen over the past decade and expect to continue into the future.
