No Ban on AI-Made Music, Yet Ethical Concerns Take Center Stage
The CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, said that the music streaming service has no plans to ban all material made by AI; this is a big deal for the music and entertainment industries that use AI to make music and entertainment. However, he stressed how vital ethics are when using AI to make songs.
This year, the music streaming service Spotify made news when it took down a song that used AI to copy the voices of superstars Drake and The Weeknd; this showed how the company felt about songs made by AI and the ethical questions it raised.
Spotify divides music made by AI into three groups.
Ek devised the following way to divide the different kinds of AI used in music. AI tools that improve the quality of music, like auto-tune, are fine, but he said that Spotify would not accept music made by AI that directly imitates human artists without their permission.
As the discussion about how AI can be used in creative fields continues, artists like Hozier wonder if AI is art.
Again, there is a grey area where real artists inspire AI-made music but must copy them exactly. He also said that the music business is having trouble labelling these different kinds of songs and that ethical issues are still important.
Even though not all AI content is banned on Spotify, its content can not be used to build machine learning or AI models for music production.
Neither Drake nor The Weeknd knew that their sounds were cloned by AI and used in the song "Heart on My Sleeve." When it was taken off of Spotify and other streaming services last April, the song's author, Ghostwriter, tried to get it nominated for a Grammy but failed.
Spotify is still committed to stopping fake artists from imitating real ones.
Ek also said he was committed to fixing problems like inflated streaming numbers and fake artists posing as real ones on music platforms. They have a special team looking into these problems, by the way.
Someone could post a song saying they are Madonna, even though they are not. People have tried almost everything in the history of Spotify to get around our method.
Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify
Ek discussed Spotify's significant podcast investments, including deals with Michelle, Obama, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. He said that some podcast projects were profitable, but others weren't.
Spotify wants to beat Apple as the most popular place for podcasts, and it is actively working with several new creators. Ek also said he favoured the Digital Markets Bill in the UK and the upcoming Online Safety Bill, which is about rules. These steps would make it safer for kids to go online and boost competition by putting tech giants under the microscope.
He said he disliked how Apple and Google run their app stores, especially how they charge commissions on in-app sales.
The CEO said these fees have significantly affected their business and ability to talk to clients directly. The company has already complained to the European Commission about how Apple does business, and the problem is still being examined.