The relationship between music and artificial intelligence is evolved, with a great potential to transform the shape in what we createwe listen and we experience music. However, it raises ethical challenges, such as the intellectual property of works created by AI, transparency in recommendation algorithms and the potential loss of jobs in the traditional music industry.
For the same, Sony Music Group (SMG) has sent letters to more than 700 companiesincluding artificial intelligence developers and music streaming services, warning them that do not use its content to train artificial intelligence systems without your explicit permission.
The so-called “opt-out” letters indicate that SMG has reason to believe that some of these companies have already been using its content without authorization, which could be infringing its intellectual property rights.
The company requires companies to stop using its content for AI and provide information about how they accessed and used said content. In addition, SMG expressly prohibits “text or data extraction, web scraping or similar reproductions” of its content, unless there is specific and explicit authorization from the company.
Under the protection of the law
This movement occurs in response to the AI law recently approved by the European Union, that requires AI developers to publicly disclose the content used to train their models. Sony Music appears to be taking proactive steps to protect its intellectual property and ensure its content is used responsibly.
The sources also indicate that Sony is in negotiations with streaming platforms to update their terms of service and prohibit mining and scraping of their content. Other companies in the music industry are likely to follow Sony Music's lead in the near future.
This situation raises important questions about the use of music in artificial intelligence. On the one hand, AI developers need access to large amounts of data to train their models. On the other hand, music companies have the right to protect their intellectual property and make sure their content is used fairly.
This is likely to be a controversial topic for years to come. Solutions will need to be found that balance the interests of both parties to ensure the responsible development of artificial intelligence in the music industry.