Music makers criticise government’s ‘tone deaf’ AI hearing

The Council of Music Makers (CMM) has dubbed a government hearing on the impact of AI “profoundly tone-deaf” for giving more input to industry executives than creators.

Monday’s hearing (20 November) was part of a Department For Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) roundtable. Representatives from the music, film, book and photography sectors were invited to comment on the opportunities and challenges AI poses to the creative industries.

In an open letter, CMM said that while it welcomed Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer's acknowledgement that “creatives rightly have concerns – and proposals – about how their work is used by artificial intelligence now and in the future” and her commitment to consider the issues raised, the hearing was “profoundly unbalanced and tone-deaf”.

CMM said it was “hugely concerned” that the roundtable gave one seat to a representative of all creatives across all media but had three seats for executives from major record companies. 

The organisation noted that corporate rightsholders are duty-bound to prioritise the interests of their shareholders.

In a statement, CMM said:” Of course, both corporate rightsholders and music-makers believe that AI companies must respect copyright and other creator rights – on that we are aligned. But corporate rightsholders cannot and do not speak for music-makers, and it cannot be assumed they are making decisions in the interest of music-makers.

“We urge record labels and the technology companies to actively engage with music-makers on AI. And we call on government to ensure that human creators are at the centre of its valuable work to ensure that the opportunities of AI are achieved in a way that benefits everyone.”