Vocalist AI uses algorithms and high-speed GPU processing to achieve vocal transformations. Users simply upload a vocal recording, whether it’s a quick iPhone note or a polished studio track, and then select from a curated library of voice models. These models include Beyoncé, Avicii, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, and Lizzo.
Source: Vocalist AI unveils vocal cloning platform that pays royalties to voice models
Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday (April 9) which, if passed, would require AI companies to disclose which copyrighted works were used to train their models, or face a financial penalty. Called the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, the new bill would apply to both new models and retroactively to previously released and used generative AI systems.
Source: New Federal Bill Could Require Disclosure of Songs Used in AI Training
An initiative led by the International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP), representing 90%of the world’s published music, has launched a new online resource called RightsAndAI.com, where rightsholders can reserve their rights against unlicensed exploitation of their works. The centralized platform seeks to send a clear message to AI firms engaging in “unlicensed exploitation.”
Source: Major music companies fight back against unlicensed AI in new ICMP-led initiative
Apple has struck a deal to license millions of images from Shutterstock in order to train its AI models. Other tech companies have obtained similar deals from Shutterstock to help develop visual AI engines, including Google, Meta, and Amazon. News of Apple’s deal comes well after its signing in late 2022, and is expected to cost Apple up to $50 million.
Source: Apple to license images from Shutterstock to train AI models
Where the money goes in the music business has always been an issue of towering importance, but it has never been under greater scrutiny, both within the industry and publicly. “[Regarding] educating on where the money goes, I think there’s a lot to do there,” says Davies. “There is a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding.” Key to this, he says, are DiMA’s efforts around “modernizing of licensing and operations”.
Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Kiss have sold their music catalog, name, image and likeness — including their iconic makeup designs — to Pophouse Entertainment, the Sweden-based music investment firm behind ABBA’s “Voyage” hologram show. While terms of the deal were not officially announced, Bloomberg and Associated Press said it was worth upwards of $300 million.
Source: Kiss Sells Catalog, Name, Likeness and More to Pophouse Entertainment for $300 Million
On Tuesday, the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) announced an open letter critical of AI signed by over 200 musical artists, including Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, and the estate of Frank Sinatra. In the letter, the artists call on AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to stop using AI to “infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”
Source: Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, 200 artists say AI poses existential threat to their livelihoods
Works that humans create belong to those humans (even if they are jotted down on a napkin). Paying every creator for the rights to their work is financially infeasible for the volumes of data we need to train even a small generative AI model. So, is it fair use for us to feed other people’s work into a training data set and create generative AI models? Let’s go over the Fair Use tests and see where we land.
When an AI company doesn’t reveal its training data sources, the best chance we have of working out those sources is to use the model and see whether we can find output that resembles copyrighted material. Output that resembles copyrighted material is a strong indicator that that material was part of the training data. I, and others, have found that Suno regularly outputs music that closely resembles copyrighted material.
Stability AI has launched Stable Audio 2.0, adding key new functions to the company’s text-to-music generator. Stable Audio 2.0 features audio-to-audio generation, allowing users to manipulate any audio sample they want using text-based AI prompts. Its terms of service, however, requires that any audio uploaded to this tool is free of copyrighted material, with the tool employing a content recognition filter to ensure compliance.
Source: Stability AI Launches Stable Audio 2.0 With Audio-to-Audio Generation Feature