The impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) on the creative industries has been nothing short of catastrophic. What started as a promise of efficiency and boosted productivity quickly became a cheap way for corporations to reduce costs. Thousand of creative jobs have been eliminated in favour of a technology trained on the work of the very people it now replaces.
In the case of music, the situation is critical. Record labels don’t take risks. Streaming services keep cutting on royalties. Social media algorithms change constantly, making both discoverability and growth difficult and unsustainably time-consuming. Now, on top of that, gen AI is destroying the licensed music market, using the creations of hardworking musicians for the profit of tech company owners.
While there is significant opposition from all across the board, the issue will not be properly addressed until official regulations and the law catch up. So, if you are a member of your constituency political party, the Musicians Union has put together a sample motion on gen AI, that you can use to show your support for musicians and creative workers. You can have a look by clicking here.
It’s important not to sit idle, even if you are a live musician and your income isn’t as compromised yet. At the face of such a massive challenge, we will prevail only if we stick together. For the same reason, it is vital that we do not use gen AI for research, text, graphics, videos or musical resources. It is plagiarism, and the creators whose work was used to train the software did not consent to it. Let’s keep relying on each other as artists and humans!
