‘Good news’ for UK music as Spotify to work with record labels on AI
While this new deal does not change the company’s current policy on AI disclosures, it will bring record labels closer to the development of artificial intelligence products
Spotify will announce a deal with five of the industry’s publishing giants as part of a mission to ‘stamp out the worst outcomes of Gen AI’, LBC understands.
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The streaming service is to partner with multi-national firms Sony Music Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, and Believe to develop ‘artist-first’ AI music products, according to a document seen by LBC.
On Wednesday, we reported growing pressure on Spotify over its AI transparency policies with calls for labels to be introduced for tracks made by generative artificial intelligence.
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While this new deal does not change the company’s current policy on AI disclosures, it will bring record labels closer to the development of artificial intelligence products.
Unions, industry leaders and artists have accused tech giants of wide-scale copyright theft in their rapid drive to train AI models.
Spotify is expected to announce the deal saying: “Some voices in the tech industry believe copyright should be abolished. We don’t. Musicians’ rights matter. Copyright is essential.
“If the music industry doesn’t lead in this moment, AI-powered innovation will happen elsewhere, without rights, consent, or compensation. Together with rightsholders, artists, and songwriters, we are making significant investments in AI research and product development.”
Bosses will say the AI products led by Spotify will ensure fair compensation while providing new streams of revenues for singers, songwriters and producers.
“We will leverage our role as the place where more than 700 million people already come to listen to music every month to ensure that generative AI deepens artist-fan connections,” a comment in the document said.
A source close to the deal described it as good news for the ambitions of creators in the UK and told LBC it demonstrates how the ‘market’ is well placed to respond to the development of artificial intelligence, provided the UK Government doesn’t ‘interfere’.
This is in reference to proposals from the Department for Science, Information and Technology to offer creators an ‘opt out’ when it comes to technology companies using copyrighted material to train their AI models.
Critics say this solution would undermine copyright law in the UK by requiring creators to actively monitor when their original content is being used.
Ministers are yet to legislate on artificial intelligence regulation, with a standalone bill expected next year.