All eyes are currently on the music industry regarding the impact of AI on copyright law. Udio, a generative AI music service that was recently sued by the three major record labels, has issued a statement in response to allegations of widespread copyright infringement.
Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records claimed that Udio, as well as another major music generative AI program called Suno, violated copyright laws by training their models on copyrighted music without permission.
“Our system is explicitly designed to create music that reflects new musical ideas,” reads a statement shared by Udio on X. “We have no interest in playing content in our training set and, in fact, have implemented and continue to refine the state of -Artistic filters to ensure that our model does not reproduce copyrighted works or artists' voices.”
“We stand behind our technology and believe that generative AI will become a pillar of modern society.”
Recording Industry Association of America CEO Mitch Glazier, who is leading the lawsuits, expressed concern about irresponsible AI developers who offer unlicensed services and, in turn, threaten the integrity of human creativity.
“The music community has embraced AI and we are already partnering and collaborating with responsible developers to create sustainable AI tools focused on human creativity that put artists and songwriters in charge,” Glazier said in a statement. statement“But we can only succeed if developers are willing to work alongside us. Unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it's 'fair' to copy an artist's life's work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or payment are derailing the promise of truly innovative AI for us all.”
Read Udio's full statement at X below.
Over the past two years, AI has emerged as a powerful tool for creative expression across many mediums, from text to images, film and now music.
At Udio, our mission is to empower artists of all kinds to create extraordinary music.
In our young life as a company, we've sat in the studios of some of the world's greatest musicians, workshopped lyrics with up-and-coming songwriters, and watched as millions of users created extraordinary new music—from the playful to the profound.
We've heard from a talented musician who, after losing the ability to use his hands, is now making music again. Producers have sampled AI-generated tracks to create hit songs, like “BBL Drizzy,” and everyday music lovers have used technology to express the range of human emotions, from love to sadness to joy.
Innovative technologies involve change and uncertainty. Let's give an insight into how our technology works.
Generative AI models, including our music model, learn from examples. Just as students listen to music and study sheet music, our model has “listened” to and learned from a large collection of recorded music.
The goal of model training is to develop an understanding of musical ideas, the building blocks of musical expression that belong to no one person. Our system is explicitly designed to create music that reflects new musical ideas. We are not at all interested in reproducing the content of our training set, and in fact, we have implemented and continue to refine state-of-the-art filters to ensure that our model does not reproduce copyrighted works or artist vocals.
We stand behind our technology and believe that generative AI will become a pillar of modern society.
Virtually all new technological advances in the field of music have been initially greeted with apprehension, but have ultimately proven to be a boon to artists, record companies, music publishers, technologists, and the general public. Synthesizers, drum machines, digital recording technology, and sound recording itself are examples of music-making tools that were once controversial and initially feared. However, each of these innovations ended up expanding music as an art and as a business, giving rise to entirely new musical genres and billions of dollars in the pockets of artists, songwriters, and the record labels and music publishers who benefit. of his creations.
We know that many musicians, especially the next generation, are eager to use AI in their creative workflows. In the near future, artists will compose music together with their fans, amateur musicians will create entirely new musical genres, and talented creators, regardless of their means, will be able to scale the heights of the music industry.
The future of music will see more creative expression than ever. Let us use this defining moment in technology to expand the circle of creators, empower artists, and celebrate human creativity.”
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