AI music news

SAG-AFTRA says “clear and conspicuous consent” required for vocal clones as part of “groundbreaking” new agreement with labels

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AI • 2 min read

SAG-AFTRA says “clear and conspicuous consent” required for vocal clones as part of “groundbreaking” new agreement with labels

The major labels have made a number of commitments around AI to artist and musician members of US performer union SAG-AFTRA via a new code of fair practice. They are, says artist manager, Irving Azoff, “a great first step to make sure artists have creative control and get paid”…

Chris Cooke • 15 Apr 2024

Transparency obligation for AI companies proposed in US Congress

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AI • 2 min read

Transparency obligation for AI companies proposed in US Congress

Organisations from across the music industry have welcomed proposals introduced into US Congress that would force AI companies to declare what content they have used as part of the training of any one generative AI model. The proposals have been made by Democrat Adam Schiff…

Chris Cooke • 10 Apr 2024

Have a playlist idea but don’t know what songs to put on it? Spotify’s AI bot can help with that

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Spotify • 1 min read

Have a playlist idea but don’t know what songs to put on it? Spotify’s AI bot can help with that

Many people out there don’t like the idea of music discovery being handled by an algorithm. If you’re among them, Spotity has come up with a solution - hand the task over to artificial intelligence. Yes, that’s basically the same thing, but what you’re forgetting is that AI is cooler…

Andy Malt • 08 Apr 2024

ICMP launches rights reservations portal setting out the legal and moral obligations of AI companies

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ICMP • 2 min read

ICMP launches rights reservations portal setting out the legal and moral obligations of AI companies

A new portal has been launched by the music publishing sector collating ‘rights reservations’ from music publishers which clearly state that those companies’ rights have been reserved from any data and text mining exceptions in copyright law, in particular the exception in European law…

Chris Cooke • 04 Apr 2024

200+ artists sign letter urging tech companies to stop using AI to "devalue the rights of human artists"

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AI • 3 min read

200+ artists sign letter urging tech companies to stop using AI to "devalue the rights of human artists"

The Artist Rights Alliance in the US has organised an open letter signed by more than 200 artists calling on tech companies to pledge that they will only use generative AI responsibly, and that they will not infringe upon or devalue the rights of music creators…

Chris Cooke • 03 Apr 2024

George Carlin's daughter calls for "appropriate safeguards" after settling lawsuit over AI-generated fake comedy special

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George Carlin • 2 min read

George Carlin's daughter calls for "appropriate safeguards" after settling lawsuit over AI-generated fake comedy special

A lawsuit filed by the estate of George Carlin over an AI-generated fake comedy special has been settled. Commenting on the legal battle, Carlin’s daughter said the case should “serve as a warning” and that “appropriate safeguards” are needed to allow people to protect their likeness and voice…

Chris Cooke • 03 Apr 2024

Tennessee passes ELVIS Act to help musicians stop unauthorised voice clones

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ELVIS ACT • 2 min read

Tennessee passes ELVIS Act to help musicians stop unauthorised voice clones

The US state of Tennessee has extended its publicity right law to give people more protection over the unauthorised use of their voice or likeness, especially in the context of AI-generated deep fakes or voice clones. The changes come via the passing of the ELVIS Act.…

Chris Cooke • 22 Mar 2024

And Finally! Not even robots like James Blunt

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And Finally • 7 min read

And Finally! Not even robots like James Blunt

James Blunt asked AI to write lyrics in his style and it “totally humiliated” him. Turns out, AI doesn’t think James Blunt is very good at writing lyrics. Check out this and a round up of this week’s other funniest music news stories here…

Andy Malt • 22 Mar 2024

BPI threatens to sue voice cloning site Voicify

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Voicify • 3 min read

BPI threatens to sue voice cloning site Voicify

After the US record industry raised concerns about UK-based voice cloning service Voicify in a piracy document last year, it has emerged that British trade group BPI is now threatening legal action against the platform, which makes “high quality AI covers in seconds”…

Chris Cooke • 18 Mar 2024

US Copyright Office sets out why AI-generated works should not enjoy copyright protection

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AI • 3 min read

US Copyright Office sets out why AI-generated works should not enjoy copyright protection

The US Copyright Office is of the opinion that AI-generated works do not enjoy copyright protection, but the developer of an image-generating AI disagrees. His dispute with the Copyright Office is now with the appeal courts in Washington DC.…

Chris Cooke • 08 Mar 2024

Anthropic's fair use defence and Claude 'guardrails' are defective, say the music publishers

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Anthropic • 2 min read

Anthropic's fair use defence and Claude 'guardrails' are defective, say the music publishers

The music publishers that sued Anthropic have again demanded a preliminary injunction against the AI company ordering it to stop using and outputting lyrics they control, while also disputing its fair use defence…

Chris Cooke • 16 Feb 2024

Setlist Podcast: The new certification for “respectful” AI companies

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AI • 4 min read

Setlist Podcast: The new certification for “respectful” AI companies

Former Stability AI exec launches certification for AI companies that license copyrighted content before using it to train their models, redundancies at Pitchfork, and more…

Andy Malt & Chris Cooke • 19 Jan 2024