The Artists Rights Alliance, supported by approximately 200 music creators such as Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, and Camila Cabello, has issued a public statement urging digital music developers to refrain from utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that undermine and devalue the rights of human artists.
The initiative highlighted concerns regarding AI developers utilizing musical content without authorization to train AI “imitators” or employing AI-generated “sound” to diminish royalty responsibilities. This intervention underscores the growing threat posed by AI to creators and its significance to both legal and popular music domains.
Jen Jacobsen, the ARA’s executive director, emphasized the challenges faced by working musicians in the streaming era, compounded by the emergence of AI-generated content. The unethical utilization of generative AI to supplant human artists threatens to depreciate the entire music ecosystem, impacting artists and audiences alike.
AI advancements have enabled developers to manipulate vocal samples to mimic the style of well-known human artists without their consent. Prominent signatories of the open letter include Sam Smith, HYBE, Jon Bon Jovi, Norah Jones, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Chuck D, and Kate Hudson.
While acknowledging the vast potential of AI to enhance creativity, the artists underscored the irresponsible use of AI by certain platforms and developers to hinder creativity, undermine artists, songwriters, musicians, and rights holders.
In a significant legal development in October 2023, three major music publishers—Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO—filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, an AI company accused of infringing on copyrighted song lyrics through the utilization of internet-sourced data to train AI models.
The artists emphasized the need to safeguard against the exploitative use of AI to misappropriate artists’ voices, violate creators’ rights, and disrupt the music industry. They called upon digital music platforms and services to commit to refraining from developing or deploying AI music-generation technology that undermines human creativity or deprives artists of fair compensation.
This advocacy effort coincides with discussions among U.S. policymakers and regulators to establish safeguards ensuring the ethical use of AI in music production while fairly compensating artists. For a comprehensive list of participating artists and the full text of their open letter, visit the Artists Rights Alliance website.
