Michael Nash, EVP and Chief Digital Officer of Universal Music Group, gave a keynote speech at UN's AI held at Jeneva on Tuesday (July 8th).
This summit relies on it 13,000 Gather registered representatives, UN decision makers, politicians, ambassadors and other stakeholders to discuss AI in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The event is organized by the UN ITU, along with 40 UN organizations and the Swiss government.
During his speech, Nash provided insights into how the world's largest music rights company is approaching artificial intelligence and why he believes “market-based solutions are the answer” to the challenges of AI in music.
He added that UMG “enables a large number of entrepreneurs,” “working with a wide range of major high-tech platforms in announced partnerships and entering into important licensing agreements for their works.”
UMG is an important advocate for the responsible ethical use of AI in music, and the company has already carved out many partnerships in the AI field.
In October, we collaborated with an AI company. Klay Vision Inc.and plans to tackle “a pioneering commercial ethical fundamental model of music produced by AI, which works in collaboration with the music industry and its creators.”
Among various other AI-related transactions over the past few years, UMG is YouTube “AI incubator” prorata.aia belonging startup focused on Gen AI.
UMG is also a prominent figure in the fight against the misuse of songs and recordings for training AI platforms, participating in lawsuits against AI platform humanity, as well as AI music generators Suno and Udio. (Bloomberg Last month, Major reported that it was in licensing talks with the latter two platforms.
Elsewhere in Nash's presentation, he also touched on Universal's wider industry involvement, saying that in 2023 he “supported the launch of the Human Arts Campaign.”
Nash concluded his keynote by repeating his belief that “AI is an artist who can contribute to our future, continues to shape a global culture, and as they always do, as they are constantly changing the confusion to transformation.”
He added: “Our artist-centric vision means AI innovation can promote music culture and in doing so will bring even greater benefits to the quality of life on this planet.”
“In our artist-centric vision, AI innovation can promote music culture and in doing so will bring even greater benefits to the quality of life on this planet.”
Michael Nash
Nash was featured on stage It was a donmusician, record producer and president of the iconic UMG-owned jazz label Blue Note Records.
“One of the biggest changes we are facing is the introduction of artificial intelligence,” and “some of us are excited, others are nervous. [what this] A tool for creativity? What does originality mean? What does it mean for deep artistic communication? ”
He added: “At UMG, we are very fortunate that someone can clarify that conversation and lead with purpose. That's Michael Nash. He oversees our global digital strategy, works with our platform, and works with our partners and policy makers to help artists grow in these evolving times.
“More than that, Michael understands creativity is not just data, but emotion, connection, and humanity. He sees AI as a tool that can support artists, protect their rights and even spread their voices, rather than a threat to humanity.”
These are the four things that stood out in Nash's presentation…
1. Nash argues that “copyright is not the enemy of innovation.”
One of the most memorable moments in Nash's keynote came when he directly challenged what he called “the anti-co-authored premise of some AI industry commentators.”
“Copyright is not the enemy of innovation, it's the exact opposite,” Nash told the audience. “Mediatech convergence based on copyright respect has created an economy of trillions of euros. It began as an important early stage in accepting licensed music with Apple's marriage to iTunes in 2003. [to] Create your first trillion dollar company. ”
“Copyright is not the enemy of innovation, it's the exact opposite.”
Nash said “Steve Jobs”[written] “Google, Amazon, Meta and many other companies follow in a variety of ways with their own music and content strategies,” says Blueprint, a high-tech company working with the creative community.
The UMG executive emphasized that “by respecting the value of the artists' work and leveraging their innovations, technical collaboration with the creative community has provided great cultural and economic benefits.”
2. UMG's AI strategy is built on a simple philosophy: “centering artist conversations.”
Nash outlined Universal's approach to AI development. He said he is based on the simple principle of putting artists first.
“Universal's strategy on AI is based on a simple philosophy: it centers around artist conversations, defends their rights and interests, and fakes new creative and commercial opportunities from its foundation,” Nash explained.
“Universal's strategy on AI is based on a simple philosophy. Focus on conversations with artists.”
He emphasized that “the scope of technical disruption may be unprecedented for AI, which may not change the fundamental truth.”
Nash argues that in order for a successful implementation of AI in music to begin with “from a foundation built on copyright and related rights,” and warns that “we cannot build a new business model without rights. If you don't request a seat at the dinner table, you may be caught in the menu.”
The executive emphasizes that the future of AI music is not a reflux of artists' music derivative knockoffs to cannibalize the current market. It will be revitalized so that new tools can be featured in artists' hands and create new experiences for their fans.”
3. UMG introduced three major AI projects: The Beatles '' nows', ' Sound Therapy and Keith Urban's latest music video
Nash used his keynote to highlight how Universal is implementing AI technology in collaboration with artists, demonstrating practical applications rather than theoretical possibilities.
The most famous example was the Beatles. sometimes, Nash described it as “the last song of the Beatles written and sung by John Lennon 50 years ago.”
He explained, “Using next-generation AI source separation technology, Lennon's voice was unearthed from cassette recordings that had not been able to be used for decades, awaiting this moment of AI evolution.”
Nash said the track released in November 2023 “Winners” [2025] Grammy for Best Rock Performance – “For the first time, recording using AI technology is highly respected in major categories.”
The second project highlighted by NASH was a collaboration with Universal with Apple Music on the Sound Therapy Initiative, which “is using our own ethically developed patented Gen AI system,” he said.
The technology “mechanically proofread audio supplements seamlessly integrate with recordings from some of our biggest artists, including Imagine Dragon, Katy Perry, and Kacey Mus Grave, and “creates immersive artist-approved remixes.”
Finally, Nash provided an exclusive preview of the upcoming Keith Urban Music Video Straight linewas created using “Moon Valley Gen AI and other ethically trained tools.”
4. Nash dismissed the influence of AI bands, dismissed the effects of velvet sunsets, and shared a new consumer research highlighting viewers' preferences for “real artists.”
In a panel discussion following the keynote, Nash addresses concerns about AI-generated music by quoting data from streaming platforms and data from a new consumer survey that suggests that human artists will remain central to audience preferences.
Referring to Deezer's data, Nash states that “nearly 20% of uploads to the platform are pure AI-generated,” but these uploads represent only “half of 1% of consumption,” highlighting the limited audience's appetite for purely AI-generated music.
Nash has particularly downplayed the importance of Velvet Sundown, an AI-generated band that has attracted a lot of media attention over the past week. “There's a lot of novelty coming,” Nash said. “People are talking about velvet [Sundown]this is this fake AI artist [project]perhaps a conceptual project,” he added.
“There was a lot of publicity about it. For all the publicity, they have a million listeners on Spotify. [listening]because these are huge platforms with incredible volumes. ”
Nash then shared a new consumer survey from Universal, saying, “Around half of the consumers are interested in AI and music, but that's mainly in terms of service utility. They want better discoveries. They want better organizational recommendations, better interaction with content.”
“Around half of consumers are interested in AI and music, mainly in terms of service usefulness.”
Importantly, among consumers interested in music AI, Nash said, “Clearing what we call moral norms. 70-75% say that real artists are the most important. That's the artist's story.
Nash said: “I think the market is checking what [was said earlier]that means people connect through music and understand the expression of human experience. As you know, people who connect through that principle are still driving forces. ”
Reservoir (NASDAQ: RSVR) is a publicly-published, global independent music company with operations across music publishing, recorded music and artist management. Music business all over the world
