An Editorial by Dawoud Kringle
Since Trump took office in 2016, he has been consistent in his efforts to destroy the arts and any fair business practices for professionals in music and the arts.
Trump’s Shutdown: A Crisis for Professional Musicians » DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY
Trump Fights to Destroy the Arts. Artists and Arts Activists Fight Back.
An Editorial by Dawoud Kringle
When you thought it couldn’t get worse, the corporate overlords took things to the next level. Music distributors have been sneaking clauses into their user agreements allowing them to use our music to train AI models.
This is how it works. Many distributors (e.g., DistroKid, TuneCore, etc.) include broad licensing terms in their contracts, granting themselves the right to use uploaded music to train AI models. They use terms such as “machine learning,” “data analysis,” or “service improvement” to describe this. Artists often unknowingly consent by agreeing to the terms. The user agreements frequently have no option to refuse to allow the distribution service to use their music for AI training. These clauses usually allow the unrestricted, perpetual use of music for AI without paying royalties or compensation to artists or rights holders. Some distributors sell or provide AI companies like OpenAI or Google DeepMind access to their music libraries to train generative models, including vocal clones, melody generators, etc. The raw audio is still used even if the artist removes the metadata from their uploaded files. This can easily replicate an artist’s unique styles without attribution.
(Note: this is Jerome Harris’ submission for Local 802’s A.I. series who has been a member of Local 802 since 1979. Sohrab who’s also a member of Local 802 read this article in ALLEGRO – the Local 802 digital publication of news, articles, and discussions about issues that are important for organized musicians – and got permission from Jerome to share it with the MFM community.)
When thinking about artificial intelligence from the perspective of those for whom music making is a livelihood, it’s useful to note a distinction. There are various forms of AI; the one that is most concerning for workers in creative fields is generative AI. This technology can assemble (“generate”) new material based on the patterns it finds in old material. This involves feeding vast amounts of digitized data — including recorded music — into powerful computer systems designed to analyze and isolate patterns. This is called “training” these AI systems. The systems can then be ordered to fabricate recordings based on those patterns, as specified by commands such as text-based prompts. Note that the underlying compositions and their recordings that are being used for AI training were created by humans and are owned by them or by business entities unless they are in the public domain.
Musicians For Musicians (MFM) Presents: Music Is Essential ZOOM Talk Event #10 with Bassists Jerome Harris and Ron Wasserman Speaking on “Bass: The Joys of The Bottom Line”
Date: Thursday, January 18th, 2023
Time: 5pm to 6:30pm (ET)
Musicians For Musicians (MFM) Presents “Music Is Essential” ZOOM Roundtable Discussion w. Adam Reifsteck, Barry Heyman, David Newhoff, Jerome Harris, and Roger Blanc on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Music Industry
Date: Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Time: 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. ET
Venue: ZOOM – Ticket: FREE
