Music Authenticity Wars: Labels vs AI Firms 

Published Date: 01/07/2024

Major record labels are suing AI companies for copyright infringement, sparking a crucial debate about the future of music and artistic ownership.

The music industry has been turned upside down by the rise of streaming platforms, making it increasingly difficult for artists to earn a living. A proposed bill in the US Congress, the Living Wage for Musicians Act, aims to establish a new royalty standard of one penny per stream. However, a new player has emerged, threatening artists' earnings  artificial intelligence companies that generate 'music' based on text prompts.

Last week, major record companies, including Universal, Capitol, Atlantic, Warner, and Sony, filed a lawsuit against two generative AI companies, Suno and Udio, accusing them of 'willful copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale.' The record companies claim that the AI firms have trained their algorithms on their catalogues of songs without permission, amounting to 'wholesale theft of... copyrighted recordings that threatens the entire music ecosystem and the numerous people it employs.'

The record companies have a strong case, and their move against AI should prompt governments to update their policies to better protect artists from having their material stolen and monetized by computer models that don't want to pay to use it.

In Canada, the fair-dealing exception in the Copyright Act permits the use of other people's copyright-protected material for specific purposes, such as research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review, or news reporting. AI companies have been pressing Ottawa for an exemption around copyright laws, arguing that the use of AI to read and learn from material should not require compensation. However, it is unclear whether all media published online are truly fair game for these generative models.

High-quality fake audio is also testing the music industry in other important ways. Last year, a collaborative track featuring AI-generated imitations of Drake and the Weeknd's voices was submitted for Grammy consideration, but was deemed ineligible by the Recording Academy. Moreover, many listeners have raised concerns that Spotify may be using AI to generate music or permitting AI-generated music to masquerade as traditional tunes on its platform, which is misleading and can cut into a musician's earnings.

At the most basic level, we need more transparency regarding the inputs into these models, and the ability to choose (and pro-actively reject) their automatic inclusion in the music services we subscribe to. From a consumer-protection standpoint, listeners need reliable mechanisms to make independent decisions about the content they consume and support.

Meanwhile, large platforms that have the ability to set norms for creative industries are starting to reject the presence of generated material. Universal and TikTok recently settled a licensing dispute that had them in a stalemate over artist compensation and the use of AI-generated music on the platform. TikTok has agreed to work with Universal to remove unauthorized AI-made content.

In conclusion, the battle for music authenticity is a crucial one. Artificially generated 'music' simply shouldn't be permitted to sonically masquerade as if it were made by humans. Governments, record labels, and music platforms must work together to establish clear policies and guidelines that protect artistic ownership and ensure that musicians are fairly compensated for their work.

FAQS:

Q: What is the Living Wage for Musicians Act?

A: A proposed bill in the US Congress that aims to establish a new royalty standard of one penny per stream.

Q: What are Suno and Udio accused of?

A: Willful copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale, according to major record companies.

Q: What is the fair-dealing exception in Canada's Copyright Act?

A: A provision that permits the use of other people's copyright-protected material for specific purposes, such as research, private study, education, satire, parody, criticism, review, or news reporting.

Q: What is the concern about AI-generated music on Spotify?

A: That it may be misleading and can cut into a musician's earnings, further diluting an already paltry payout.

Q: What is the outcome of the licensing dispute between Universal and TikTok?

A: TikTok has agreed to work with Universal to remove unauthorized AI-made content from its platform. 

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