Good morning, creators. ☀️ Day 23 is here, and today we are looking at four signals worth watching — a major label licensing its whole catalog into live gameplay, fan remixes moving inside a licensed, royalty-paying front door, a gaming icon turning 30 with a new figure line, and a phonk record from our own catalog that carries a clean Content ID fingerprint. Let's get into it.
1. Universal Music Group Licenses Its Recorded and Publishing Catalogs to Gaming Platform TYGER
What happened: Announced Thursday, October 22, Universal Music Group became the first major music company to license TYGER, the adaptive music platform built for gaming. Select recordings and songs from UMG's recorded music and publishing catalogs will join TYGER's paid, on-demand subscription for listening during active gameplay, with some recordings also on its free, ad-supported tier. TYGER's patented technology adapts licensed tracks in real time to live play — no integration by game studios required — and the platform is in closed beta across more than 20 titles with a combined monthly audience above 540 million players, on top of a library of more than 400,000 songs, mostly from independent artists. (Source: PR Newswire / Universal Music Group)
Why it matters: This is a new licensing category, not another playlist placement: the same recording now earns inside the game session itself, reacting to what the player does. When the biggest catalog in music signs first, every other rights holder has to decide how fast they follow.
The ETS/Zillion angle: Gaming, toys and sound have always been one world for this community — our photographers shoot game icons and our catalog scores the posts. Epic Toy Sound was built for exactly this convergence: we own our catalog, masters and publishing, so a track can be licensed into a game, a reel or a figure shoot through one door. Browse the license-ready catalog in our synthwave and retro audio packs.
2. Spotify Signs Believe and TuneCore Artists Into Its Licensed Fan-Remix Tool
What happened: Announced Tuesday, October 20, Believe and Spotify signed a licensing agreement for Spotify's upcoming tool for AI-powered fan remixes and covers. Participating artists and labels from Believe and its self-release platform TuneCore can opt in — nobody is enrolled automatically. Believe and TuneCore will run a two-step consent process, and streams of the remixes will generate royalties for the artists and rights holders behind the original works. The tool is planned as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium subscribers, and every remix links back to the original track and artist. (Source: Spotify Newsroom)
Why it matters: Fan remixes already happen everywhere, usually with no payment and no credit flowing back. This deal turns that activity into a licensed, consent-first system built on four words: consent, control, compensation and transparency.
The ETS/Zillion angle: That is the rule this house was built on — a track gets distributed and fingerprinted first, so when the community builds on it, the credit and the revenue know where home is. Our collaborators' art becomes releases with real splits and real paperwork, never uncredited remixes floating free. Start with the packs creators are already building on in our outlaw country-trap and phonk audio packs.
3. McFarlane Toys Lands the Tomb Raider License From Crystal Dynamics for Lara Croft's 30th Anniversary
What happened: McFarlane Toys has announced a landmark licensing agreement with Crystal Dynamics to bring Tomb Raider to life in a new collection of Lara Croft action figures. For the franchise's 30th anniversary, the first release is a 7-inch McFarlane Elite Edition Lara Croft inspired by Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, the re-imagining of the original 1996 game — classic look, signature weapons and accessories, timed to coincide with the game's launch and sold online and through select retailers. The collection will then expand with more figures and collectibles based on Tomb Raider: Catalyst. (Source: License Global)
Why it matters: One license, two game launches, and a figure timed to the exact moment attention peaks — that is launch-timed licensing done right. The anniversary creates the headline; the multi-title roadmap turns it into a shelf program, not a one-off.
The ETS/Zillion angle: Figures are the front door of our whole world — a character on the shelf becomes cover art, and the cover art gets a soundtrack the community shoots to. Collectors building their next display can hunt in our action figures collection, and see the photographers turning figures into art over at zillionmarketplace.com.
4. House Spotlight: "Babysit" — Phonkfather & Evil Pimp
What happened: Released June 30, 2026, "Babysit" (UPC 882652850345, ISRC QT6EG2699103) pairs Phonkfather with Memphis phonk pioneer Evil Pimp — a hard, dark phonk record that carries Content ID registration in the Epic Toy Sound catalog, and the one catalog track with no third-party claim standing in its way. That clean fingerprint is exactly why "Babysit" leads the catalog's video lanes: it can score Shorts, reels and full-length videos and the revenue routes home. (Source: Epic Toy Sound / Zillion Records catalog and ISRC records)
Why it matters: A great track is only half the asset — the paperwork is the other half. Registered, fingerprinted and claim-free means every creator who builds on "Babysit" is building on solid ground, and every play is accounted for.
The ETS/Zillion angle: This is the model in one record: own the master, register the work, fingerprint it, then put it to work across the community's cameras. Find more phonk and outlaw fuel for your own shoots in our outlaw country-trap and phonk collection and the full action figures lineup at toysandbeats.com — one family, one catalog, everybody eats.
Thank you for starting your Friday with us — four signals, one community, and a catalog that keeps growing because creators and collectors like you keep showing up. Go make something beautiful today. One love. ✌️