Muse have explained why the @Muse accounts on X and Instagram now belong to a Meta product rather than to the band. Speaking to iHeartRadio, and reported by NME on 21 September, Matt Bellamy described the arrangement as a negotiated trademark matter rather than a takeover.
The band moved to @Musetheband earlier this year, and the handles they gave up went to Meta's new AI assistant, which is also called Muse. The switch confused fans at the time, and drew a fair amount of comment about the irony of a group with albums called Simulation Theory and Drones losing its name to an algorithm.
Bellamy's account is that Meta asked. The Meta chief executive sent him "the beta version of the AI" before its launch, and the two men met in person. "No, no. We had a chat. He invited me to meet him, and we had a chat," Bellamy said when an interviewer put it to him that the username had simply been taken. Of Zuckerberg himself, his verdict was brief: "He's alright, he's not too bad."
The band's own condition was narrow and commercial. Bellamy said he asked Meta to stay away from music and merchandise, which leaves him free to sell Muse AI T-shirts while Meta is barred from building a Muse AI of its own in the band's field. The assistant, rolled out in the United States this month, handles email replies, scheduling and turning long-term goals into task lists.
The trade is a small, specific example of something the music business has mostly been arguing about in court. Elsewhere the fight over AI and artist identity runs through lawsuits and licensing deals, from the major labels' actions against generative music firms to Spotify's move to flag AI artists in its recommendations. Muse settled theirs over a meeting and a change of username.
Their current album, The Wow! Signal, carried a four-star NME review. The band bring it to the UK and Europe this autumn, with two nights at Manchester's Co-op Live on 12 and 13 November and two at The O2 in London on 15 and 16 November. More rock coverage sits on our genre hub.
The facts
- Muse moved from @Muse to @Musetheband on X and Instagram earlier this year.
- Meta's new AI assistant, also called Muse, took the old handles.
- Matt Bellamy says Mark Zuckerberg invited him to meet and sent an early build.
- Bellamy asked Meta to stay away from music and merchandise.
- The assistant rolled out in the United States this month.
- Muse play Co-op Live on 12 and 13 November and The O2 on 15 and 16 November.
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