YouTube, which is owned by Google, is currently in discussions with major record labels to acquire licensing rights for their music. These licensed songs will be used in training artificial intelligence systems designed to replicate popular music by famous artists. This move comes as YouTube prepares to roll out its AI music generation tools later this year, as disclosed by three individuals, who are familiar with the issue at hand.
To legitimize the training of these AI music creating tools, YouTube has recently made cash lump sum offerings to top-ranking labels such as Sony, Universal, and Warner. This is YouTube’s initiative to persuade a greater number of artists to permit their work to be used in AI software training. This information has been shared by several people who have been briefed about the ongoing discussions.
Nevertheless, the thought of AI-produced music has been met with resistance from numerous artists who fear the devaluation of their art. Any attempt by a label to enforce the participation of their artists in such an venture would be met with major controversy.
An executive from a leading music company disclosed, “The dilemma lies within the industry. While the companies technically possess the copyrights, there’s a need for thorough consideration on how to approach this. We wouldn’t want to be perceived as resistant to change.”
In the previous year, YouTube started testing “Dream Track”, an AI tool that enables users to make short music clips by simply inputting a text prompt. The tool was engineered to mimic famous artists in both lyrics and sound. However, the testing phase attracted only a few participants, including Troye Sivan, John Legend, and Charli XCX. Following the test, Dream Track was made available to a limited group of creators only.
According to two insiders, YouTube is aiming to accumulate “dozens” of artists for the roll out of a new AI music generating tool later this year.
In an official statement, YouTube stated, “Our aim isn’t to expand Dream Track, but we are in the process of holding discussions about potential future projects with various labels.”
YouTube’s pursuit for new contracts comes at a time when AI firms, such as OpenAI, are entering into licensing agreements with media groups to train substantial language models. These models fuel AI products, like the ChatGPT chatbot, and are worth tens of millions of dollars. According to those briefed about the negotiations, the music deals being crafted would not cover all artists, but rather a select group of artists.
The record labels will have to motivate their musicians to get involved in new undertakings. However, the final sum YouTube could possibly offer the labels is currently uncertain.
The agreements would resemble the single payments made by social media giants including Meta or Snap to entertainment bodies for music rights, not the royalty-based contracts that labels have with platforms like Spotify or Apple. It has been stated that negotiations are ongoing and terms could still shift.
The latest feature from YouTube, a new AI instrument potentially part of the YouTube’s Shorts platform in competition with TikTok, will undoubtedly not carry the “Dream Track” brand.
On the heels of leading recording studios suing two AI start-ups, Suno and Udio, for alleged misuse of copyrighted recordings in training their AI algorithms, YouTube’s recent decision is noteworthy. The music industry is reportedly demanding “as much as $150,000 (€140,000) for each infringed work”.
In the wake of being endangered by Napster’s emergence in the 2000s, music bodies are now striving to stay ahead of revolutionary technologies. Record labels are eager to collaborate with licenced product using AI to create music using their copyright – and to be compensated for it.
Sony Music, absent from the initial phase of YouTube’s AI experimentation, is discussing with the technology company to integrate some of its music into the new software, according to a knowledgeable individual. Talks are also ongoing with Warner and Universal- whose artists were part of the pilot phase, about product expansion.
In April, an open letter was signed by over 200 musicians, featuring stars like Billie Eilish and Frank Sinatra’s estate. The letter suggested that if AI remains unchecked, it could trigger a devaluation of their work and hinder fair compensation.
As per YouTube, they’re continuously exploring new concepts and learning from their experiments, and plan to sustain their AI and music enterprises, building for the future.