UK Music chief warns of AI threat to industry

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has written to Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer calling for reassurance that artificial intelligence (AI) firms will not be allowed to “crush the human creativity which is the beating heart and soul of our world-leading music industry”.

Njoku-Goodwin’s letter warns the rapid advance of AI poses many “difficult questions” government must urgently address.

It comes amid the growing use of AI to clone voices of musicians to create new music, creating issues around copyright and consent. UK Music and its members have put forward a five-point plan to support musicians in the face of developing AI technologies, which Njoku-Goodwin’s letter calls on the government to support.

The five principles include ensuring the creator or rights holder retains the legal rights to their creative output, and ensuring technology providers keep an auditable record of the music ingested before an algorithm generates new music.

It also suggests music generated by AI should be labelled as such, and that a new 'personality right' be created to protect the personality and image of songwriters and artists.

“As we look to unlock the potential of the creative industries, we must ensure the music industry and the tech sector grow in partnership, and the right guardrails are in place as we develop our AI sector,” Njoku-Goodwin’s letter states.

“I would be delighted to discuss this further with you or your officials and look forward to working with you to ensure the development of AI is a benefit rather than a barrier to our fantastic music industry.”