Analysis
I. Introduction
Music has been around since the beginning of humanity. Humans have been using instruments to create music for many millennia with the earliest dating back 40,000 years, as found by The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Throughout history, new instruments have been created to produce different styles and sounds of music. Most notably, a notable upset in the music industry was when autotune was introduced into mainstream music. This digital “instrument” can make any person sing in the perfect pitch, even being able to edit the pitch a singer originally sang in. The release of Cher’s hit song "Believe" is credited to be the first song to use autotune, and in 2015, CNN referred to the technology as “The invention that changed music forever”. Now, 25 years later, the world is being introduced to a new tool causing uproar in the music industry- artificial intelligence, or AI.
II. The History of AI
While only starting to make headlines within the past year, AI technology has been around for decades, but not as we know it today. According to Harvard University, the idea of sentient machines and technology has been around since the golden age of science fiction from the 1930s-1940s, such as seen in The Wizard of Oz with the Tin Man. The first AI program, though, was invented in 1955.
Simple computer programs and autonomous cars are among some of the first few inventions made with early AI. However, nowadays, AI has developed and grown much larger with the availability of free AI computer programs, like ChatGPT, that can be used by anyone with access to the internet. These programs have also become smarter, with the ability to write and talk like humans. AI programs like these began as something fun to play around with and see what gets created, but most recently have become a concern with how lifelike it has become. The main danger of these programs, however, is that the reason they are so realistic is because the content they are creating is stolen original work from artists and professionals. Since the programs are so new, there is no way to properly credit artists who have had their work stolen, and there is currently no solution to prevent AI from taking others' work.
III. Music Ownership
In the age of professional songwriters, artists’ song covers, and "Taylor's Version", the question arises of who owns the rights to a song. If a guitar riff is sampled in a song, who gets credited? If AI takes lyrics and music notes from a singer and uses them in generating music, who is having their work stolen? The answer is a bit complex.
The most common and basic response is that, typically, a record label owns the rights to an artist’s song or “master recording.” When a contract is agreed upon between an artist and their label, “the record label retains the rights in such master recordings in perpetuity, or until the expiry of the copyright of these recordings. In return, an artist receives royalties from the commercialization of these rights” (Tilleke & Gibbins). On the other hand, if a musician does not have a label and posts their music independently on sites like YouTube or SoundCloud, the musician retains complete ownership of their songs.
Section 203 of the U.S. Copyright Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1978, states that after 35 years, artists can reclaim the rights to their master recordings. Since this passing, many artists from the 70s have reclaimed their music ownership as long as their original contracts fit the Congress provision (Tilleke & Gibbins). But what if an artist wants to own their songs now and does not want to wait 35 years?
This is the situation that Taylor Swift faced when she found out her album rights had been sold off from her original label.
Typically, for artists, such as what happened with Paul McCartney and The Beatles’ music, a legal case is filed in court for the musician to gain the rights to their songs. Oftentimes, a settlement is reached to benefit both parties. However, in Taylor Swift’s case, a loophole was created to allow her work to truly become hers and to have the liberty to improve upon it. Taylor did not own the copyrights to her six original albums, but she had copyright ownership of the songs themselves, basically the melody and lyrics from them. Owning the melody and lyrics is also referred to as “publishing rights” (Music Business Worldwide). Because of this, Swift is able to make her “Taylor’s Version” of her songs, which is essentially a legal cover of them. Since they are her covers, she has complete ownership of all the Taylor’s Versions.
Swift’s situation is a more extreme example in the realm of music copyrights but the general answer is that labels own the rights to master recordings, and a musician and/or songwriter owns the publishing rights. However, with the popularity of Swift’s re-recordings and the impact it has made on the music industry, labels are rumored to be attempting different ways to prevent something like that from happening with new artists. While this is still in development, it is reported that “Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group have recently overhauled contracts for their new signees, with some prohibiting artists from re-recording their music until 10 years — or more — after they’ve left the label” (Consequence). At this point, only time will tell if these contract addendums will remain a permanent thing for new artists, or if it is a temporary reaction.
IV. AI and Music
So how does AI affect music and the industry?
As mentioned briefly, AI has become a threat to many different industries, and the music industry is not exempt from that. Before the end of 2022 into 2023, AI-generated music was experimental and not fully developed to the level it is at now. It would sound choppy and clearly robotic unless made with expensive and complex programs. A popular app that ended service in 2019 was Ditty, which allowed users to type anything they wanted, and the app would make a song out of it, such as the videos here:
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As you can see in the second video, the beat of the hit Black Eyed Peas song Boom Boom Pow is used, and the song itself takes influence from the song "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force. This app only made short songs, however, and was not used for commercial purposes. Due to this, it did not pose a threat like AI music generators do today.
Going from songs like those made in Ditty, today in 2023, full songs with complete lyrics, beats, and even familiar vocals can be made clearly and coherently. Some popular types of AI music are audio of characters from TV shows covering popular tunes, but also “original” songs are being developed and shared. As an example, the video below features a song called Plan Z from creator BOIWHAT. The song uses the voice of voice actor Mr. Lawrence, who plays Plankton in the children’s cartoon Spongebob Squarepants. Despite it being his voice, Mr. Lawrence had no involvement in the creation of the song. It was made possible because of AI.
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This song is among many AI-generated tunes that have been flooding social media and music apps. While they are often just used for comedic value, they pose a serious concern and threat for creators today. Without their knowledge, actors and musicians alike are having their voices and work taken and profited off of. As of now, there is no set solution for this, but we could be seeing guidelines or laws in place in the future.
V. Conclusion - The Future of AI and Music
Because of how new this technology is and how it is being used, there are no guidelines yet for controlling copyrights and stolen art. However, if the music industry heads in a similar direction to the film and television industry, it is likely that even if AI is used to make songs, the music will be unable to make money or win awards. Although there can be some benefits to using AI, like giving anyone the power to make music, the overall consensus from listeners and most musicians is a negative attitude toward the technology.
As time goes on, and programs develop, society may see improvements in AI. It could be that in the future, programs will no longer steal art and will create original material. However, we are not yet at this point, and AI remains a serious threat to artists, actors, writers, and musicians alike.
