'The ability to say no': artists demand consent over AI use of their music

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A coalition of advocacy groups for artists, songwriters and managers is warning musicians about the growing risks of artificial intelligence music.Recently, many major record labels have inked deals with AI music startups such as Suno, Udio and Klay.But the coalition, which includes organizations such as the Music Artists Coalition and the Songwriters of North America, argues in a new letter that “artists and songwriters whose works, voices, performances, likenesses and creative identities make those deals valuable are not being meaningfully consulted.”The letter, released Monday, stated that many artists and songwriters in existing recording and publishing agreements are currently receiving letters from their labels and publishers claiming that they “will be opted in to AI-related uses by default, with little actual choice offered.” Even new artists are receiving agreements that include “AI rights clauses as a standard condition of signing.”“We support innovation and recognise that AI can create new opportunities for music,” the coalition wrote in the letter.

“However artists are not simply catalogue assets, and innovation cannot be used to override artists’ rights.”The National Independent Talent Organization, a live entertainment advocacy group that signed the letter, said many of its members are coming to the organization with label contracts that include “non-negotiable AI usage clauses.” “We can’t allow for contract language signed decades before this technology existed to be the standard bearer.These rights belong to the creators and they get the final say on usage,” said Nathaniel Marro, NITO’s executive director, in a statement to The Times.

“Music companies are leading the fight to protect artists’ and songwriters’ rights in the age of AI,” said a spokesperson for IFPI, the recording industry’s global trade body.“While our m...