Can Artificial Intelligence Pose a Threat to Music Artists?

Universal Music Group (UMG) has asked streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple to block music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) as it seeks to protect its copyright of artists’ intellectual property. UMG is asking for AI-generated songs built from their copyrighted music to be taken down and for streaming service providers to block their music’s access to developers using it to train AI models. UMG controls one-third of the global music market, and the technology can generate unique texts, images, and even music. Developers can use existing music to train their models to create new songs that sound like popular artists. Despite negative views of AI-generated music, the industry has embraced the use of non-fungible token technology. Last year, UMG created music for Kingship, a virtual band based on the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection. Another leading music company, Warner Music Group, collaborated with Polygon to create a Web3 music platform.