The AI Music Revolution: Problems and Opinions
Let’s talk about one of the biggest hypes that is revolutionizing the music industry; Artificial Intelligence (also known as AI). This phenomenon has recently become the talk of the town, regardless of the difficulty to pin out its definition as it encompasses an umbrella term of fast changing technology. Yet, this phenomenon is not new as it was firstly talked about in the 1950s through the creation of our contemporary machines and computers. Nevertheless, we can see today that this phenomenon has expanded and developed in the music industry, creating different sorts of problems and opinions.
An example of how AI has been advancing in the electronic music field, is the composition of Holly Herndon (also known as the godmother of AI Music) and Mat Dryhurst called ‘baby AI Spawn’, which was created by data-driven voices and sounds. This was to be one of the songs of her AI album ‘proto’. This shows how artists are exploring their own creativity with AI tools, nevertheless, as with any great invention in the 20th & 21st century, it needs to overcome the issues of copyright.
Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the world's largest music companies, has called on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music to block access to artificial intelligence (AI) companies seeking to use the music from its artists' back catalogs to train their AI software. In an email sent last month, UMG informed these platforms that certain AI services had been trained on copyrighted music without obtaining the necessary permissions from the song owners. The email, which has been verified by Billboard, warned that UMG would not hesitate to take steps to protect its rights and those of its artists.
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Current laws governing the use of copyrighted materials in AI training are still hazy and unresolved, and it is uncertain what actions UMG would take to enforce their request. The issue of AI training has come under the spotlight in recent times, with many industries experiencing an explosion in AI's popularity. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had previously claimed that online services using AI had copied the vocals, instrumentals, or some portion of the instrumentals from a sound recording without the consent of the musicians. This led to the RIAA stating that such practices infringed upon musicians' copyright.
AI software and platforms learn by ingesting millions of tracks and songs as "inputs" to improve their algorithms. The issue of AI training using copyrighted materials is becoming more prevalent, and UMG's request is a significant step toward protecting its artists' rights. As the use of AI continues to increase, it is crucial to establish clear laws and regulations governing the use of copyrighted materials in AI training.
In conclusion, the issue of AI training using copyrighted materials has become a prevalent issue across various industries. UMG's call for streaming services to block AI companies' access to their back catalog music is a significant step towards protecting their artists' rights. This move underscores the need for clear laws and regulations governing the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. Regardless of the development of AI, technological advancement still does not mean it exceeds human intelligence, as AI lacks free will, taste, and opinion, and it's able to purely provide problem-solving tactics and efficiency (which is something that it is pretty good at). So the question is, what will be the next step in the music industry concerning AI? and how will artists address the situation? By taking advantage of the AI tools, or by defending their own artistic authenticity?
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Written by Luna Mongrut