As AI booms, campaign defending ‘irreplaceable role of human artistry’ sees membership spike

A fledgling coalition of industry groups and associations working to protect the interests of human creators in the age of AI says it has expanded its membership by 50% in just a few weeks.

The Human Arts Alliance (HAC), Launched at the South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) in Texas in mid-Marchsays it now has more than 70 members worldwide.

The Alliance does not oppose such AI technology; It says its goal is to ensure that AI evolves “in a way that strengthens the creative ecosystem while continuing to recognize the unique and irreplaceable role of human art in culture and the arts.” .”

Among the original members of the group was the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing more than 1,600 recorded music companies, including the big three – Sony Music Entertainment (SMEs), Popular music group (UMG) and Warner Music Corporation (WMG).

The HAC ranking also includes SAG-AFTRA, an association representing 160,000 artists worldwide, including recording artists, film and television actors, journalists and radio personalities.

The new members of HAC include music industry groups in various countries, including Argentina, Austria, Canada and Germany.

The formation of the group comes amid a real boom in AI technology following the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT app late last year.

As more businesses race to join the AI ​​game, either as creators of the technology or as users of it, more and more people and organizations are concerned about what the evolution of AI means to humans. creativity and workers.

A recent report from the investment bank Goldman book estimated that about 300 million jobs worldwide could be automated use AI technology and about two-thirds of all jobs in the US and Europe”are exposed to some degree of AI automation.

Those concerns are especially acute for music creators, who are faced with the rapid proliferation of AI-powered music creation apps like BandLab and Moises. currently has tens of millions of users.

China’s Tencent Music Entertainment recently released more than 1,000 tracks with AI-generated vocalsone of which now has more than 100 million plays.

Meanwhile, music streamer English say it’s intended to build a catalog of 200,000 AI-generated songs.

The question of copyright has become at the heart of the AI ​​debate in the creative industries.

Of the seven principles that the Human Art Campaign has come up with to guide the development of AI, three are specifically related to copyright:

• Use of copyrighted works by AI applications is subject to authorization and permission.

• Governments should not allow copyright or intellectual property rights exemptions that allow AI to “exploit creators without permission or compensation.”

• Copyright should only protect “the unique value of human intellectual creativity.”

While creators worry about being pushed aside by technology, companies in the recording industry worry about what this means for their businesses.

“What many people don’t realize is that most of these AI systems derive their essential ‘knowledge’ base from large amounts of copyrighted content without consent and without compensation to the public. the people who actually produce and own this indispensable source material,” said Michael Nash, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Universal Music Group, in a statement. a recent op/ed for MBW.

“In some cases, this is used to create outright fakes. Often, it simply creates a flood of imitations — diluting the market, making original works harder to find, and infringing on artists’ legal rights to remuneration for their work. “

Still, some see AI as a potentially positive force in music – at least for artists, if not for record labels and publishers.

IN a recent op/ed for MBWRan Geffen Levy, CEO of Israel’s Amusica Song Management and Future Director at OG.studio, argues that AI could change the balance between music creators and their labels and publishers. .

“It’s not too hard to imagine a plugin… AI capable of recreating new, original music in the style of a particular, famous artist. This plugin can then be marketed and sold under the musician’s name,” he wrote.

“A license is required to use the musician’s ownership of the image and likeness. Importantly, these rights are usually owned by the musicians themselves or their property – not the trademarks or publishers.

This sort of arrangement “will be a unique opportunity for artists, who can claim a percentage of the income generated by that plugin, use AI tools to identify potential hit songs and engage with them.” more involved in the production process. They can also collaborate with their fanbase to create music and content.”

You can see the full list of the 70 members currently enrolled in the Human Artistry Coalition, with new members added in bold below.

The organizations listed as members of HAC represent the interests of IPR holders in industries including music, film, sports, graphic design, photography, journalism, etc.

Global Music Business