Hey Biz Talkers!
The AI music revolution is in full swing. So much so, that it is now estimated that more than 100,000 purely AI generated music tracks are uploaded to various streaming platforms on a daily basis! Unfortunately, the vast majority of the streams of the AI tracks have been flagged as fraudulent.
The crush of AI generated music content is unprecedented in the music industry. While there are some AI formats that are allowing for genuine organic music experimentation, others are merely mass generating tracks with the goal of abusing streaming platforms. Of course, law suits in this area from record labels against AI startups have exploded, but the real struggle is how the glut of AI generated music will be managed by music distributors and streaming platforms.
With Spotify and Deezer being major exceptions, music streaming companies have been debating policy internally, but have been hesitant to publicly communicate their position on managing AI generated music. Spotify has updated their policies to ban voice cloning and curtail spam powered by AI. Deezer has taken a very aggressive approach by developing an AI detection system that automatically flags AI generated music tracks and removes them from recommendation algorithms and editorial playlists. The goal here is to prioritize works by human artists in music searches unless there is genuine growth of an AI track through searches. There are other streaming services like Traxsource and Qobuz that have outright banned the distribution of AI generated music. This position is born from the concern that streaming music catalogues are diluted by massed produced synthetic recordings. Despite these approaches, the use of AI music on streaming platforms has created a modern day “wild west” where there is no clear guidance on how to manage AI generated music from the major Digital Streaming Platforms (DSP’s). As a result, streaming distributors have been left to fend for themselves to define the standards while the battle rages out of control.
Although no one is sure on what to do to manage the AI music revolution, it would appear that the best approach for streaming platforms and distributors would be to combine effective verification and monitoring of AI tracks with a well defined policy on the use of AI tracks with associated penalties if the policy is not adhered to. It would also be helpful for distributors to incentivize artists who avoid using AI altogether as a means of ensuring that organic creative art from artists continues to have a place in the music landscape. While we stay tuned for further developments in the AI wild west, buckle up because it’s going to be a wild ride on the AI music rollercoaster!
