The Approval Drop, The Drive Home, and The Spotify Deal

Mimi Brown breaks down the day. Trump's approval just hit a new low.  Your Memorial Day traffic and gas survival guide. And the Spotify-Universal AI deal that's quietly reshaping music. Plus, the Front Page Friday Quiz.

From the Black Effect Podcast Network. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
President Trump's approval ratings just hit a new low, and
Republicans are the ones pulling it down.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
I voted for President Trump. I'd like to see the
prices go down because it's it's really killing you.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
But Moorial Day weekend traffic is about to test every
driver in America. No vacations.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
We must just stand around this area.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Now and Spotify just change the rules how music gets
made in the AI era.

Speaker 4 (00:27):
The top shot of Spotify today. There's a legitimate use
of AI done by artists and we would have love
for them.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
It's Friday, May twenty second from the Black Effects Podcast Network.
I'm Nimi Brown. This is front page and here are
today's biggest stories plus today on the prompt page. Friday
quiz three questions from this week and it could be
your name. I calling out next Friday. Stay with me.

(00:56):
The President's approval rating just hit an all time low,
and the people pulling it down are not Democrats, They're
his own voters. A new Fox News poll out this
week shows Trump's approval rating has fallen among Republicans to
eighty percent. That's the lowest number Fox News has measured
for him since he returned to the White House. But

(01:17):
here's where the numbers get interesting. Among non MAGA Republicans,
the more moderate side of the party. Trump's approval is
now at fifty four percent among white voters overall, forty
three percent among rural voters, also forty three percent. Translation,
the people who put him in office in twenty twenty
four are starting to back away.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
I voted for President Trump. The war in Iran and
everything is, you know what's jacking the price everything right now? Well,
I have mixed emotion. I don't like the war. I
don't like bombings or killing civilians or anything like that.
I wish we could stop that somehow. The other thing
is I'd like to see the prices go down because

(02:00):
it's it's really killing you.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
The poll is clear on this one. It's the economy.
Seventy four percent of Americans disapprove of how the president
is handling the economy. That's up from five points just
last month, and Republicans alone moved seven points more negative
on him. Republican pollster Darren Shaw, who conducted the poll
along with a Democrat, said it plane quote, make no mistake,

(02:23):
It's all about affordability.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Tomatoes are nuts. What used to be you know, half
of what we used to pay is now like ninety
dollars for a case of tomatoes.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Independents jumped ship in twenty twenty five, and now non
MAGA Republicans and other core constituencies are wavering. Inflation is
also part of the reason why last month the Labor
Department reported inflation hit three point eight percent over the
last twelve months, the highest in nearly three years.

Speaker 5 (02:50):
My grocery bill has definitely increased about fifty dollars. We
probably went over about one hundred and fifty two hundred
dollars in a month with the same items.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Then there's the war in Iran. Sixty percent of Americans
now opposed military action in Iran, up from fifty five
percent last month. Even with most Republicans still saying the
US is winning the war, opposition to it is climbing.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
There is a material amount of oil that just can't
get to market, and that is driving up prices everywhere.
I would expect this a lought to be paying all
courts of five dollars a gallon here in these first
weeks of summer.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
And here's where this matters. Republicans on Capitol Hill are
six months out from November elections. They have a slim
House majority. The White House has not commented on the poll.
If you're driving this Memorial Day weekend, Triple A says
nearly thirty nine million Americans will be right there with you,

(03:46):
making this one of the busiest holiday weekends in years,
and travel experts say the timing is everything. Friday between
eleven am and eight pm is expected to be the
worst traffic window of the entire weekend. Saturday afternoon could
also be rough, while Monday's return to traffic is expected
to peak between noon and five pm. Some specific stretches

(04:08):
of highways are also going to be very painful. Triple
A is projecting that I twenty five in Colorado, the
Golden State Parkway in New York, and the BWI Parkway
will see triple digit percent increases over normal travel times.
And here's the part that hurts even more. Gas prices.
The price of a gallon of regular jumped thirty one

(04:28):
cents in just the last week.

Speaker 5 (04:29):
Since gases are on let it causes me to, you know,
maybe cut back on eating out driving certain places.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
The national average is now four dollars and forty eight cents.
That's fifty percent higher than where prices were when the
war with Iran began in February. No no vacations, pretty
much just standing around this area now. Industry analysts are saying,
even if the war ends today and the Strait of
Her Moves reopens, it will still take months to get
prices back to where they were before. If you're traveling

(04:57):
this weekend, leave early, expect delays, and budget more money
for gas than you probably planned. Still got to drive,
so I got to get to work.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
Summer coming up, so just got to budget things to
get around.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
It's quiz time. Three questions from this week's story. So
if you've been listening, you've got these. Email front page
with Mimi at gmail dot com or dm me at
Mimi Brown TV. The first three correct get a shout
out right here next Friday. But first let's get to
last week's winner. So shout out to Lance Elkins you
got all three questions right, THEO Brown no relation, you

(05:35):
got all answers right. And Tyland Fuller shout out to
all three of you getting the answers right to last
Friday's front page quiz. So here we go. We're going
to do this week's quiz right question number one. After
twenty nine years on Oklahoma's death Row, Kim Kardashian paid
the bond to release a man we covered on Tuesday.
What was his name? Question number two? The End just

(06:01):
launched a campaign called out of Bounds, and it's asking
black athletes to consider boycotting schools in seven southern states.
Name three of those states. All right, y'all, this is
the curveball from Wednesdays underplayed. The Department of Energy gave
HBCUs a major clean energy grant, but then ten million dollars.

(06:23):
What was the amount? All right, Well, that's your quiz
email or DM me your answers by Tuesday night. Winners
will be announced next Friday on the show. So front pagers,
let's talk about where the music industry is headed, because
Spotify just made a move that could change the industry

(06:45):
faster than a lot of people realize. So the company
just announced a new partnership with Universal Music Group that
will eventually let premium users create AI generated remixes and
covers using license songs directly in the Spotify app. So
that means subscribers could eventually use AI tools to remake
songs connected to some of the biggest artists in the

(07:07):
world like Taylor Swift, Drake, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish. Spotify
says those artists involved in the program will have to
give their permission to receive compensation and supporters, though they
argue that this is better than what's already happening, where
AI music tools are being trained on artists without their consent.

Speaker 4 (07:26):
If we look at the top shart of Spotify today,
there's a legitimate use of AI done by artists and
we would allow for them. And then there's the one
where it's clearly as someone trying to steal someone's name
or likeness, or even infringe on someone's IP, at which
point we would say that is not okay, that is
not what we stand for, and we would take that down.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
But here's the bigger conversation. Independent musicians are already suing
major AI music companies, arguing that these tools are threatening
the future of smaller artists who do not have made
major label protections or negotiating power. So this is just
raising a few questions for me, like who's actually benefiting
from AI music Because right now, the biggest artists, the

(08:11):
biggest corporations appear to be getting the deals. First they
get first protections and the first payouts, while smaller artists
they're still trying to figure out how to protect their voices,
their songs, their livelihoods. So I don't know. It seems
like the music industry is not trying to stop AI anymore.
It's just trying to see who can own it first.
I don't know. What do you guys think? Email me

(08:33):
front page with Mimi at gmail dot com. Let me
know your thoughts. That's your front page. I'm me Me Brown.
Have a safe and beautiful Memorial Day weekend, Take care
of each other, and I'll see you on Monday with
three new stories and a Monday Brief for the week ahead.
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Podcast Network.