Google and Universal Music Group explore licensing of AI-created songs

Unlike the current unregulated system, this tool would compensate copyright owners. However, discussions are at a very early stage and a launch date has not yet been set.

Earlier this year, several AI-generated songs went viral, such as the well-known one that mimicked the voices of Drake and The Weeknd. The song “Heart On My Sleeve” was played 600,000 times on Spotify before being taken down, leading to a statement from Universal Music Group. “The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law), as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSP, raises the question of which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation,” said a spokesperson for the label. “We are encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues – as they recognize they need to be part of the solution.”

The label initially urged streaming services to police it more and remove AI-generated tracks. “We have a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent unauthorized use of their music and to prevent platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators. We expect our platform partners to want to prevent their services from being used in a way that harms artists,” Universal Music said.

In other music-related news, Travis Scott announces his upcoming “Circus Maximus” tour.