AI to cost music industry major income loss in the coming years, according to new report
Posted On
Credits: Possessed Photography
Significant developments in artificial intelligence will improve and streamline processes across many tech giants, but a new report says it will negatively impact creators’ rights and income in the music industry in the coming years.
The new report claims that those working in the music industry will lose almost a quarter of their income to AI within the next four years, with the market predicted to $3 billion annually to $64 billion in 2028. The report states that those working in audiovisual will be impacted significantly, losing more than 20 per cent of their income in tandem with the growth.
The report, conducted by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), found that this impact will roll out unless policymakers intervene with new plans and initiatives to address the disparity.
In a recent statement, ABBA band member Björn Ulvaeus said that the Australian and New Zealand governments’ new rollouts are “encouraging and promising” because they set a “gold standard in AI policy, one that protects creators’ rights while fostering responsible and innovative technological development. Australia and New Zealand can ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human creativity rather than replace it,” per The Guardian.
While Ulvaeus also recognised that AI has “the power to unlock new and exciting opportunities,” he also said that, “if badly regulated, generative AI also has the power to cause great damage to human creators, to their careers and livelihoods.”
What have others said about AI in the music industry?
This report follows years of criticisms about AI’s impact on the music industry. Commonly, it is viewed as detrimental to creative practices and poses a significant financial burden on creators and others working in the industry.
New Order musician Peter Hook told The XS Noize Podcast that AI-penned songs will never match up to those written by a human hand, saying, “When you look at someone as good as David Bowie at writing songs and marvel, ‘Drive-in Saturday’, ‘The Prettiest Star’. The guy was a genius. Songwriting is an art you cannot teach.”
Nick Cave has also shared his concerns about the issue, saying, “Its intent is to completely sidestep the sort of inconvenience of the artistic struggle,” adding, “going straight to the commodity, which reflects on us, what we are, as human beings, which is just things that consume stuff. We don’t make things anymore. We just consume stuff. It’s frightening.”
Other artists have shared the same sentiment, from Roger Daltrey to James Blake, while some corporations are also taking steps to address the issue, like Sony Music, which sent a letter to over 700 firms requiring them to share any use of their material to train AI.
[embedded content]
Related Topics
