The ongoing battle between the music industry and artificial intelligence is heating up, with the “big three” major US record companies now suing two of the most prominent AI music startups.
Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group have filed suit against music production companies Snow and Voodoo for allegedly illegally using their copyrighted songs to train AI models. The Big Three are seeking damages of up to $150,000 for each allegedly infringed work, which could amount to billions of dollars.
The rise of AI-generated music has many artists fearing that if someone can churn out songs that sound just like them in minutes, they'll lose control over their most valuable asset: their voice. Hundreds of musicians, including Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, and Jon Bon Jovi, signed an open letter in April calling on tech companies to end their “assault on human creativity.”
Related article: Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder and others sign letter calling for defense of AI
While the statement acknowledges that if used responsibly, the technology has “great potential to advance human creativity,” it also claims that some groups are already using AI irresponsibly to “hinder and undermine musicians' creativity.” Specifically, it says that some companies are using artists' work without permission to train AI models. This is an attempt to replace musicians' work with AI-generated content, which it claims will “drastically dilute royalties paid to artists” and be “devastating” for many people “just trying to make a living.”
The letter came at a time when the entire entertainment industry is grappling with a changing technological landscape, starting with the world of TV, movies, and music streaming. While contracts between the actors' union SAG-AFTRA and the studios gave them broad protections for the handling of artificial intelligence, members had yet to be informed about whether digital replicas could be used. This is a similar issue for musicians, who have little protection from the technology.
Related article:
Purely AI-generated songs are not eligible for the Grammys
