Music industry vs. AI sounds like a struggle to sync the right notes
But finding a rhythm sounds inevitable
The biggest record companies in the U.S. suing AI music generators for copyright infringement has been on the radar of THE GRAIN since June 24, when Universal, Sony and Warner alleged that Suno and Udio are training on copyrighted music, which has led to the artists and distributors being robbed of intellectual property.
The lawsuit has been coordinated by the Recording Industry Association of America, whose leader Mitch Glazier is calling for agreements and regulations:
“The music community has embraced AI and we are already partnering and collaborating with responsible developers to build sustainable AI tools centred on human creativity that put artists and songwriters in charge. But we can only succeed if developers are willing to work together with us.”
Last month, THE GRAIN drew attention to Willonius Hatcher, the artist who used Udio to create “BBL Drizzy,” for which Drake made history as part of the first track to clear an AI-generated sample in his feature on “U My Everything” with Sexxy Redd.
The sample appeared two months after Hatcher was quoted in Wired about how artificial intelligence can serve as a form of reparations for marginalized creators. But should that come at the cost of cannibalizing a catalogue? AI companies are currently lobbying the Canadian government to exempt them from copyright laws.
Cohere is a Toronto-based AI developer that’s joined Google in that effort, and whose CEO and co-founder Aidan Gomez was recently at Davos expressing his optimism:
“I'm quite optimistic about the policy discussions that are going on right now. I think I was nervous last year that we would get fear of Terminators and these sort of like sci-fi narratives around AI. I think that's been cooled.
”I'm optimistic we're headed in a good direction. And there seems to be really multilateral collaboration. Everyone's invested in this technology going well for humanity.”
Meanwhile on TikTok, a licensing deal with Universal Music followed a contentious battle that found the record industry giant characterizing the Chinese social video app as the bad guys, to the point where the tunes of Taylor Swift and other superstars were muted on the platform. The move caused widespread trauma followed by subsequent jubilation, as it now opens the door for AI-generated content creation, based on the comments of TikTok music head Ole Obermann:
“We will work together to make sure that AI tools are developed responsibly to enable a new era of musical creativity and fan engagement while protecting human creativity”.
While the music scene is determined to move fast with AI, many also seem determined to not break things. It’s an industry that tends to draw compassion for artists, who have historically rallied fans to compensate them properly. How and from where the AI-related remuneration will come is another question. For now, debates continue on how a new style of sound is to be created and consumed.