The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), has issued an open letter supported by more than 200 artists calling on AI Developers, Tech Platforms not to devalue music and undermine artists’ rights.
The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), a non-profit artist-led education and advocacy organization, has issued an open letter that was supported by more than 200 artists calling calling on all AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to “cease the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists”.
As AI-related threats such as voice cloning, and deep fakes continue to rightfully attract significant scrutiny, the open letter has also shed some light on two related trends that are among the most serious and irresponsible uses of AI, including the use of musical works by AI developers without permission to train and produce AI “copycats”, and also the use of AI “sound” to dilute royalty obligations.
“Working musicians are already struggling to make ends meet in the streaming world, and now they have the added burden of trying to compete with a deluge of AI-generated noise,” explains Jen Jacobsen, Executive Director of the ARA. “The unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists will devalue the entire music ecosystem — for artists and fans alike.”
Read more about the rise of AI in Music and the drawbacks and benefits, as viewed by musicians.
Part of the open letter published this month by the Artist Rights Alliance, states that, “Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere…. Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rights holders”.
The letter signed by more than 200 artists including Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, and the estate of Frank Sinatra. “We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem. We call on all digital music platforms and music-based services to pledge that they will not develop or deploy AI music-generation technology, content, or tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work.” the letter stated.
This open letter comes in the wake of a growing worldwide debate about the ethical application of AI in music. The state of Tennessee has already strengthened its rights to “right of publicity” by passing the “ELVIS Act.” The state’s Governor Bill Lee announced the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act, a bill updating Tennessee’s Protection of Personal Rights law to include protections for songwriters, performers, and music industry professionals’ voice from the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) in January. Currently, several US states and the US Congress are debating similar measures.
Associated with the open letter, the ARA also added that AI poses an “existential threat” to their art in a tweet. Fans can find the full letter signed by singers and songwriters here.
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