Universal Music Group has requested streaming platforms block artificial intelligence companies’ access. Financial Times reports the company has asked Spotify, Apple Music, and other digital service providers to stop AI from using its music to train technology.
“We have a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music and to stop platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators,” explained a statement issued by UMG to FT, according to Variety.
“We expect our platform partners will want to prevent their services from being used in ways that harm artists.”
Variety reported the process includes AI companies uploading music from the platforms into technology that allows bots to process the tracks and create songs or melodies in the same style. The audio uploads have resulted in UMG sending takedown requests “left and right.”
“We have become aware that certain AI systems might have been trained on copyrighted content without obtaining the required consents from, or paying compensation to, the rightsholders who own or produce the content,” detailed a company email. “We will not hesitate to take steps to protect our rights and those of our artists.”
Artists and musicians have also spoken out about the rise of AI-generated music. Young Guru shared his concerns after hearing a Kendrick Lamar song created by AI. In a now-deleted Instagram post uploaded in February, the acclaimed audio engineer shared the video process of the fake song being created.
“You can copyright a song, or a speech but not the voice itself!!! You can literally create a song or an album in the voice of your favorite musician. And this is just music. The ability to create a Manchurian Candidate scares me. Think about that in every industry. There are still states that don’t even have a law against revenge porn,” he wrote.
The 49-year-old shared similar concerns in March surrounding AI-generated Jay-Z music.
“We have to add the voice to this law. We have to learn from past mistakes. You would be a fool to chase every person that is going to do this. We learned that lesson with Napster. The only way I see to deal with it is to change the law. There are so many different opinions. We could change the United States law tomorrow but the internet is world wide. What a time we live in!!”