Music industry rightsholders – including record labels, music distributors and music publishers – are starting to enter into licensing deals with AI companies.
It’s a positive development that – through a combination of lobbying, litigation and negotiation – rightsholders have managed to persuade some AI companies to partner with the music industry and secure music licences.
However, as deals are being signed and implemented, it’s important that the rights of all music-makers are fully respected and protected by both AI platforms and rightsholders. In many cases this does not appear to be happening.
Respecting music-maker rights includes considerations relating to copyright; moral, performer and personal data rights; trademarks; personality rights; and related legal principles that allow music-makers to protect voice and likeness.
And that means on both the input and the output of AI.
| On the input, the work of artists, musicians, songwriters, composers and producers is copied into training datasets and then analysed to train each AI model. |
| On the output, following the training of a model, a music-maker’s music, lyrics, voice, likeness and name may be exploited – especially by those AI platforms developing tools that generate covers, remixes and mash-ups, or new music ‘in style of’ existing music-makers. |
Below we run through several things for music-makers to consider as more AI deals are agreed and announced.
Should you get involved in the music industry’s AI deals?
Obviously, different music-makers will have different opinions on music AI.
You may already be using AI as part of your music-making process and may be excited about the potential of different music AI products, and keen to capitalise on any commercial opportunities music AI creates.
But some music-makers may object to the use of their music, lyrics, voice, likeness or name by any AI products, whether on commercial, creative and/or moral grounds.
The five organisations that make up the Council Of Music Makers do not take a position on this. However, we are fighting to ensure AI platforms, music industry rightsholders and lawmakers provide creators and performers with the control they need to decide if and when they opt in to music AI products and services, and on what terms.
What to do if your label or publisher contacts you about an AI deal
As the rightsholders you work with start to enter into AI deals, they may approach you with information about how your music, lyrics, voice, likeness and/or name will be used and how they plan to share income generated by each deal, and also to secure the necessary rights and consent.
Obviously you should consider requests for consent very carefully – and consult your manager and lawyer if you have one – and then decide what is best for you and your music-maker business. The Council Of Music Makers has produced some guidance for music-makers and their managers who are investigating and considering these deals.
If a rightsholder simply provides information about a deal and does not ask for your consent, that likely implies they believe they do not need your consent, possibly based on the view that consent has already been granted through old generic contract terms. The Council of Music Makers does not share this view.
In that scenario you might want to respond in writing to your business partner stating that you do not currently consent for your music to be included in the deal, and that you need more information about how your music will be used, and how you will be compensated, in order to decide whether to grant consent.
You might then want to ask questions outlined in Section Three of the CMM guidance.
Even if you are happy to be involved in any one specific AI deal a rightsholder informs you about, you should be wary of inadvertently granting or implying permission for your music, lyrics, voice, likeness and/or name to be exploited more generally by AI companies your business partner decides to work with.
What to do if your label or publisher does not contact you about AI deals
If you have not been contacted by your label or publisher, but believe they have entered into AI deals, you should get in touch to ask about how those deals will work.
As noted above, some rightsholders believe that they already have the rights to opt music they represent into AI training without seeking the explicit consent of music-makers. Which means they might opt your music into those deals without any communication and then unilaterally set terms for paying royalties.
We do not share this view and propose that music-makers or their managers inform any rightsholders they work with that they do not consent for their music, lyrics, voice, likeness and/or name being included in any AI deals on a general basis, and that informed and explicit consent must be sought for each usage.
The CMM has produced a template letter you can send to rightsholders you work with.
Record labels are unlikely to contact session musicians about any of their AI deals. The Musicians’ Union and wider Council Of Music Makers are working hard to ensure the rights of all performers who appear on sound recordings are protected and respected. We will provide updates on this work as it progresses.
What to do if you are negotiating a new deal or renegotiating an old deal
If you are negotiating a new deal with a rightsholder – or are renegotiating an existing deal – the rightsholder will likely want to include terms that cover AI training and AI outputs. These may or may not be clearly signposted, but you should look out for them.
Where these terms are included, you can follow CMM’s guidance when deciding whether or not what is being proposed is acceptable and fair.
Contract terms around AI are rapidly evolving and there are currently no industry-wide standards, so rightsholders should be willing to explain, discuss and negotiate these terms, and answer any questions you may have.
Join the campaign for consent, control and compensation
Some rightsholders are talking to some music-makers about some of their AI deals.
However, many music-makers are being left out of the conversation.
It is vital that all AI companies and rightsholders…
| Secure explicit consent from every music-maker before allowing their music, lyrics, voice, likeness or name to be exploited for any AI training and/or any AI products, tools and services. |
| Ensure all music-makers have full control over how their music is used in AI, and are provided with the necessary deal information to properly exercise that control. |
| Ensure all music-makers are fairly compensated when their music is used to train AI. |
While there will be some AI companies and rightsholders that voluntarily apply best practice, others will not. The refusal of some rightsholders to seek consent, provide full control and ensure fair compensation – instead relying on vague, catch-all terms in old contracts and unilaterally setting royalty rates – means copyright law needs to be amended to fully protect creators and performers in the AI age.
This includes new creator and performer rights around AI training and the streaming of AI outputs, and new protections around voice and likeness.
The CMM organisations are working with their counterparts around the world and across the creative industries to secure these legislative reforms. Your support in this work is crucial – watch this space for information on how you can get involved.