artificial intelligence
Paul McCartney is speaking out against proposed changes to copyright laws, warning that artificial intelligence could harm artists.
The British government is currently considering a policy that would allow tech companies to use creators’ works to train AI models unless creators specifically opt out. In an interview with the BBC, set to air on Sunday (Jan. 26), the 82-year-old former Beatle cautioned that the proposal could “rip off” artists and lead to a “loss of creativity.”
“You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song, and they don’t own it, and they don’t have anything to do with it. And anyone who wants can just rip it off,” McCartney said. “The truth is, the money’s going somewhere… Somebody’s getting paid, so why shouldn’t it be the guy who sat down and wrote ‘Yesterday’?”
The U.K. Labour Party government has expressed its ambition to make Britain a global leader in AI. In December 2024, the government launched a consultation to explore how copyright law can “enable creators and right holders to exercise control over, and seek remuneration for, the use of their works for AI training” while also ensuring “AI developers have easy access to a broad range of high-quality creative content,” according to the Associated Press.
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“We’re the people, you’re the government. You’re supposed to protect us. That’s your job,” McCartney told the BBC. “So you know, if you’re putting through a bill, make sure you protect the creative thinkers, the creative artists, or you’re not going to have them.”
The Beatles’ final song, “Now and Then,” released in 2023, utilized a form of AI called “stem separation” to help surviving members McCartney and Ringo Starr clean up a 60-year-old, low-fidelity demo recorded by John Lennon, making it suitable for a finished master recording.
As AI becomes more prevalent in entertainment, music and daily life, the debate around its impact continues to grow. In April 2024, Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam and Nicki Minaj were among 200 signatories of an open letter directed at tech companies, digital service providers and AI developers. The letter criticized irresponsible AI practices, calling it an “assault on human creativity” that “must be stopped.”
Deezer, a leading French streaming service, says that roughly 10,000 fully AI-generated tracks are being delivered to the platform every day, equating to about 10% of its daily music delivery.
This finding emerged from an AI detection tool Deezer developed and filed two patent applications for in December, the company says. Now, the service is developing a tagging system for the fully AI-generated works it detects in order to remove them from its algorithmic and editorial recommendations and boost human-made music.
According to a press release, Deezer’s new tool can detect AI-made music from several popular AI music models, including Suno and Udio, with plans to further expand its capabilities. The company notes that the tool could eventually be trained to detect from “practically any other similar [AI model]” as long as Deezer can gain access to samples from those models — though the company also says it has “made significant progress in creating a system with increased generalizability, to detect AI generated content without a specific dataset to train on.” It has additional plans to develop the capability to identify deepfaked voices.
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Deezer is the first music streaming platform to announce the launch of an AI detection tool and the first to seek a concrete solution for the growing pool of AI music accumulating on streaming platforms worldwide. Given that AI-generated music can be made much more quickly than human-created works, critics have expressed concern that these AI tracks will increasingly take away money and editorial opportunities from human artists on streaming services.
Among those critics are the three major music companies — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — which collectively sued top AI music models Suno and Udio for copyright infringement last summer. In their complaint, the three companies said Suno and Udio could generate music that would “saturate the market with machine-generated content that will directly compete with, cheapen and ultimately drown out the genuine sound recordings on which [the services were] built.”
“As artificial intelligence continues to increasingly disrupt the music ecosystem, with a growing amount of AI content flooding streaming platforms like Deezer, we are proud to have developed a cutting-edge tool that will increase transparency for creators and fans alike,” says Alexis Lanternier, CEO of Deezer. “Generative AI has the potential to positively impact music creation and consumption, but its use must be guided by responsibility and care in order to safeguard the rights and revenues of artists and songwriters. Going forward we aim to develop a tagging system for fully AI generated content, and exclude it from algorithmic and editorial recommendation.“
“We set out to create the best AI detection tool on the market, and we have made incredible progress in just one year,” says Aurelien Herault, Deezer’s chief innovation officer. “Tools that are on the market today can be highly effective as long as they are trained on data sets from a specific generative AI model, but the detection rate drastically decreases as soon as the tool is subjected to a new model or new data. We have addressed this challenge and created a tool that is significantly more robust and applicable to multiple models.”
Music AI, a developer of artificial intelligence for music and audio, announced Wednesday it raised $40 million in a funding round led by Connect Ventures, a partnership between CAA and venture capital firm NEA, and Brazilian investor monashees, which also participated in Music AI’s seed around.
Other participants in the funding round include Kickstart, Samsung Next, Toba Capital, Valutia, Pelion and such music industry professionals as songwriter/producer Freddy Wexler, DJ/producer 3LAU and singer/songwriter Alexander23.
“Securing this Series A funding underscores the real-world impact our technologies have on the creative industry,” Geraldo Ramos, CEO of Music AI, said in a statement. “We’re ready to advance our mission of making music innovation accessible to all, and we’re eager to explore new possibilities with a focus on practical applications.” Founded by Ramos, Eddie Hsu, and Jardson Almeida, Music AI has a team of over 90 collaborators in the U.S., Brazil and Europe.
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Some AI companies have run into legal problems from music rights owners intent on preventing unauthorized use of their recordings and musical works to train generative AI models. Suno and Udio, for instance, were sued in the U.S. by the major labels for copyright infringement in June 2024, and Suno was sued on Monday by German performing rights organization GEMA in a Munich regional court. Music AI distances itself from those controversies, calling its products “ethical AI solutions” for the creative process such as stem separation, voice transfers, lyric transcription and mixing and mastering. The company’s technologies, including Music.ai and Moises.ai, have over 50 million users.
“We are deeply committed to partnering with ethically led AI companies that appropriately credit and compensate creators for usage of their work,” Michael Blank, managing partner at Connect Ventures, said in a statement. “Music AI’s talent-friendly approach and unparalleled technology is helping them become the trusted and premier AI platform of the music industry. Beyond empowering artists, Moises enhances the creative process for musicians, producers, and content creators worldwide for practice, creation, and collaboration.”
Samsung Next is interested in Music AI’s models’ ability “to run directly on hardware for faster performance, reduced latency and reduced cloud dependency,” said Carlos Castellanos, investor at Samsung Next. “Their proprietary models, third-party integrations, and on-device AI capabilities ensure reliability, security, and scalability across smartphones, smart TVs, and other connected devices—all while elevating the end-user experience with cutting-edge features.”
BERLIN — In June, the three major labels sued the generative AI music companies Udio and Suno for training their software on copyrighted music without a license. Now, GEMA, the German PRO, is also taking legal action against Suno, in a case filed today (Jan. 21) in the Munich Regional Court.
In an announcement, GEMA said that it documented that the Suno system outputs content that “largely corresponds to world-famous works whose authors GEMA represents,” including “Forever Young” by Alphaville, “Mambo No. 5” by Lou Bega and “Daddy Cool” by Milli Vanilli creator Frank Farian, among others.
“AI providers such as Suno Inc. use our members’ works without their consent and profit financially from them,” said GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmüller in the announcement. “GEMA is endeavoring to find solutions in partnership with the AI companies. But this will not work without adhering to the necessary basic rules of fair cooperation and, above all, it will not work without the acquisition of licenses.”
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This case is very different from the litigation Suno faces in the U.S., which is spearheaded by the RIAA and involves recorded music owned by the major labels. Assuming that Suno has indeed trained its software on copyrighted recordings, as seems likely, that case will involve a determination of whether this would qualify as “fair use” – the legal doctrine that allows the unlicensed use of copyrighted works in some situations, including quotation and criticism. That can be notoriously complicated and it involves both specific facts and case law. It can also involve a great deal of money, since statutory damages for willful copyright infringement can reach $150,000 per work.
GEMA’s case involves the copyrights to songs, which it represents as a PRO, rather than those of recordings. The relevant legislation would be the European Union’s AI and Copyright directives, which allow copyright owners to “opt out” of having their works scanned in order to train AI software, and require “fair remuneration” if they are used. This is one of the first big cases involving this issue in Europe, as well as the first against a big generative music company. Any damages would almost certainly be more modest than they would in the U.S., but the case could establish whether AI companies need to license copyrighted works for software training purposes. Whatever the result, it is easy to imagine it being appealed to higher courts in Germany.
In November, GEMA also sued OpenAI for using lyrics of songs to which GEMA has rights in order to train its AI software. That case, also filed with the Munich Regional Court, only involves lyrics.
In its announcement, GEMA said Suno “outputs content that obviously infringes copyrights.” However, the issue in this case is not this output, but rather the music Suno has scanned during the process of training its software. If Suno has indeed scanned music for training purposes, it would presumably be infringing the rights in the songs as well as the recordings. Although a U.S. court could determine that this is fair use, that doctrine is a feature of Anglo-American law – the UK and British Commonwealth countries have “fair dealing,” which is similar but more limited – European laws are more strict. The EU Copyright Directive lays out “exceptions and limitations” to copyright, but it also provides authors and rightsholders the ability to opt-out of having their work scanned – or, as is more likely, to opt out until a license agreement is reached.
“The lawsuit against Suno Inc. is part of an overall concept of measures taken by GEMA,” said GEMA general counsel Kai Welp in the announcement of the case, “at the end of which there will be fair treatment of authors and their remuneration.”
01/15/2025
From a potential TikTok ban to the upcoming Diddy trial to changes coming in streaming, AI, distribution and concert ticketing, there’s plenty to watch in 2025.
01/15/2025
In 2025, indie digital rights nonprofit Merlin will double down on its recently unveiled AI policy while moving forward with its “first AI pilot program” in tandem with an unnamed “global partner,” CEO Jeremy Sirota said in a New Year’s memo to staff.
Sirota’s mention of the new program in the Thursday (Jan. 2) letter, obtained by Billboard, includes a nod to Merlin’s recently released memo outlining the organization’s position on AI, in which it warned tech companies not to harvest data from Merlin members to train AI algorithms while also stating that it supports “AI products that aid human creativity, or provide new opportunities for artists to create and collaborate in developing new original works.”
“We are proving that innovation, respect for artists and delivering on our policy on AI and abiding by our position on AI can go hand in hand,” Sirota wrote in the memo. “Let’s continue to identify AI partners who want to be on the right side of history about copyright, consent and culture.”
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Sirota’s memo also highlights new deals with both Meta and Audiomack signed in 2024, adding that “nearly 400 of our members joined” the latter agreement, “putting it near the top of deals for the total number of members opted in.” He additionally touts new agreements with social streaming platforms Rhythm and Turntable/Hangout as well as renewals with Peloton, Tencent, Twitch, YouTube, Anghami, Deezer and iHeart, among others.
Additionally, Sirota makes special mention of Merlin’s Data Warehouse and Insights initiative, noting that in 2024, Merlin “greatly expanded the access independents have to critical insights” via its recorded music data, which he notes is “one of the largest sets” in the industry. He also makes sure to hype Merlin Connect — a new initiative launched in June that aims to help emerging tech and social platforms license independent music while increasing earnings for Merlin members — stating that the program is “creating a blueprint for how music powers the next wave of digital experiences.”
Elsewhere in the memo, Sirota says that Merlin’s effective admin fee for members, which “is initially set at 1.5%,” was just 1.17% between 2021 and 2023 thanks to nearly 16 million pounds paid back to members in the form of rebates. “Every year we set a goal of maximizing how much we pay back to our members as a rebate,” Sirota writes, adding that while there’s “no guarantee we can always achieve these incredibly low rates… this is a remarkable achievement to celebrate.”
For 2025, Sirota outlines three major goals: to “super serve” Merlin members via its “Insights visualization rollout,” which he says “will expand the scope of business intelligence available to our members”; “supercharge Merlin Connect”; and expand Merlin Engage, a mentorship program that aims to “empower the next generation of female leaders in the independent music space” and which last year expanded to 30 participants, he says.
Read Sirota’s full memo below.
Hi Merlin Team,
As we start a new year, I’m struck by a simple truth: while our members represent over 15% of the global recorded music market, the music industry’s future will not be shaped by those with the broadest reach or even deepest pockets. It will be owned by those with the clearest vision and strongest commitment to artists. This is why we stay laser-focused on our singular mission: strengthening the world’s leading independents to compete and strengthen their independence. I couldn’t be prouder of our mission and this team.
Let’s never forget that our difference is more than just a business model; it’s a belief system. We deliver true independence as the only global deal making organization that is member-led, member-owned and member-governed. Every single day, we wake up and get to solve the most important question: how can we better serve our members? Our key performance indicator is simple: the success of our members and the artists they represent.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t specifically acknowledge your incredible cross functional work in December, which culminated in the launch of Merlin’s first AI pilot program. This was an impressive accomplishment achieved in close partnership with our members. It also marks an exciting start to our AI journey with a global partner. We are proving that innovation, respect for artists, and delivering on our policy on AI and abiding by our position on AI can go hand in hand. Let’s continue to identify AI partners who want to be on the right side of history about copyright, consent, and culture.
Let’s reflect back on 2024 and then look forward to 2025.
Membership
Collectively, our membership rivals the largest players in music. Merlin stands as the guardian of independence in digital music, not just through deals and technology, but as a force that protects and empowers independents to thrive on their own terms. We are indies – smart, adaptable, and fiercely dedicated to proving that independence, partnership with artists and market leadership can go hand in hand. From our newest team member to our longest-serving partner, we share one goal: ensuring independent music maintains its significance and voice in the digital future.
Everyone at Merlin is inspired by the diversity of artists, music, and experimentation our independent members bring to the world. This year we were proud to welcome a number of leading and innovative independents into Merlin deals: Artist Partner Group (U.S.), Nettwerk Music Group (Canada), Rostrum Pacific (U.S.), UNFD (Australia), VP Music Group, and Wide Awake (Netherlands).
Merlin members rule. Here’s just a small sample of the incredible releases from our members’ artists in 2024 (and a soundtrack to start the new year):
Armada Music – the world is always a better place when Armin van Buuren releases new music
Better Noise – The Hu’s live album
Curb Records – the resurgence of Sixpence None the Richer “Kiss Me”
Domino Records – who doesn’t love Arctic Monkeys, but, also, what an amazing debut solo album from Beth Gibbons
EMPIRE – one word: Shaboozey
Exceleration & Redeye – Daptone Records released the new album from Thee Sacred Souls “Got a Story to Tell”
Hopeless – a new Neck Deep album and 30 years of Hopeless
Lex Records – the album by Eyedress “Vampire in Beverly Hills”
Muting the Noise – Adam Port’s amazing track “Move”
Nettwerk – bôa “Duvet”
Ninja Tune – the viral hit by nimino “I Only Smoke When I Drink”
Pony Canyon – the new album “Rejoice” from OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM
Secret City – Patrick Watson “Je Te Laisserai des Mots” (the first French language song to reach 1bn streams on Spotify)
Secretly – the continued success of Mitski “My Love Mine All Mine” and Khruangbin (Best New Artist nod at Grammys)
Sub Pop – Suki Waterhouse
UnitedMasters – what a year for FloyyMenor
Warp Records – releases from Flying Lotus and Nighmares on Wax
Finally, you know that our Admin Fee is used to cover our budget and is initially set at 1.5%. Every year we set a goal of maximizing how much we pay back to our members as a rebate (i.e., the difference between our actual budget and the 1.5%). I’m pleased to report that, over the last three years, we have paid back nearly £16,000,000 to our members in rebates. From 2021 through 2023, our average effective admin fee was 1.17%. There’s no guarantee we can always achieve these incredibly low rates, but this is a remarkable achievement to celebrate. It’s a testament to your hard work and the creativity in how we operate this organization.
Partnership
Yes, we renewed our licensing agreement with Meta. More importantly, we strengthened and expanded our partnership. Meta is a partner who values Merlin, its members, independent music and building together. That’s why I continue to prioritize this partnership. The Meta team is keen on helping our members and their artists drive culture, are keen on fandom, and appreciate the unbelievable talent of independent artists.
We also struck a new deal with Audiomack, an artist-first music streaming platform that empowers artists to reach and engage with fans worldwide. Despite being in business for over twelve years, and a significant number of our members having direct deals, nearly 400 of our members joined the Merlin deal, putting it near the top of deals for the total number of members opted in. That is the value of Merlin and the importance placed by Audiomack on our partnership.
We ensured our members are at the forefront of social streaming platforms, striking deals with Rythm, the pioneering community-based group listening platform, and Turntable (Hangout), designed to make music a more social experience.
Every partnership matters to me, but I want to applaud your enhanced approach to dealmaking and partnership in renewing with Peloton (new features), Tencent (VIP tier), Twitch (DJ program), and YouTube (working in partnership with them on the full spectrum of our relationship from content integrity through to their product innovations).
Beyond new deals, we renewed our partnerships with Anghami, Deezer, FLO, iHeart, JioSaavn, JOOX, KKBox, Kuaishou, Lickd, and VEVO.
These are music services that value Merlin, its members and independent music. One stand-out you might have missed is our Soundtrack Your Brand partnership where, thanks to a cross functional team effort, we have increased our members’ deal participation by over 50%.
Another stand-out is our Canva partnership, where Merlin members and their artists’ music account for over 40% of Canva’s music library. That’s the power of independent music.
Merliners
2024 was our Year of Connectivity. To continue providing opportunities for the Merlin team to build closer relationships with our members, our partners, the trade associations, and each other, we held our first ever company-wide global retreat (which you affectionately called The Great Merlin Escape). We set goals of fostering greater understanding and empathy, building context across teams, and leaning more into strategic thinking. It was great to have a dedicated facilitator to help Merliners better understand their own strengths, learn how to more effectively collaborate cross functionally, and implement practices that help Merliners more effectively serve the needs of our members. Don’t forget you can find the group photo here.
For a small team, I am amazed at how many opportunities we create to connect with our partners, members, and the network of dedicated trade associations around the world. The web sessions and in-person meet-ups we hosted had attendees numbering in the thousands; we traveled to over 30+ countries; we participated in dozens of panels, moderated many more, and delivered keynotes; and we were proud to organize unique visits to our members’ offices where so many Merliners could listen to, learn from and interact with our members. I can’t wait to do more of those this year.
We integrated these connections into our daily operations by launching and improving the internal systems that make knowledge-sharing about our business relationships easier throughout the org, all in the service of helping members and partners get more from Merlin.
Continuing with the theme of connectivity, I want to again extend a warm welcome so many talented people who joined in 2024 across virtually every discipline: Alice Moss arrived from SoundCloud into our Member Operations team; Carol Zuma-Hall from Platoon/Apple as our new Controller; Ceri Brown as our new UI/UX designer; Emillia Walsh as our talented Paralegal; Gary Watson moved from a consultancy role on our Data Warehouse initiative to leading our Data Operations team; Jac Powell came from Universal Music as senior data analyst; Kirsty Langdell as our new People & Culture Lead; Leah Kraft with time at Spotify and Disney joined Member Relations; Maria Lavric in our newly-formed Data Operations team; Martin Vovk joins from Sony Music as our new Insights lead; Matt Price as a Data Engineer supporting our warehouse; Molly Kempen on our reporting team; Sara Oman on our analytics team; Simon-Turner Thompson as our new product manager; and Wes Green as our first-in-kind Product Owner.
I also want to welcome back Kaoruko Hill, our second boomerang employee, as our new GM for APAC. And the unbelievably talented Neil Miller, who joined as our new General Counsel, supporting the best Business Affairs team in the world.
Technology and Innovation
We’re building a future where independent music thrives on its own terms – innovative, authentic, and uncompromised. This isn’t about competing with or trying to recreate the past. It’s about redefining what’s possible when technology and independence join forces.
But scale alone is not enough. Music discovery and consumption have fundamentally changed. Gaming, social platforms, and new consumption models have shifted power toward independents. Our deals don’t just ride these changes – they shape how value flows to rightsholders.
This is how Merlin helps our members stay at the forefront of the industry. We are in this business because we love music and the artists who make it. Our superpower at Merlin is built on supporting our global membership through three core philosophies: rights, relationships, and resourcing (here).
Along those lines, I’m thrilled with how far along we’ve come with our Data Warehouse and our Insights initiative. Merlin sits on one of the largest sets of recorded music data in the industry. Our ability to leverage that data will unlock so many opportunities for our members. From helping our members understand rapidly changing platform trends to navigating new markets, we have greatly expanded the access independents have to critical insights. Kudos to the team in refining and improving Dremio and our capability for better business analytics and insights performance. This sets the stage for 2025 in continuing to improve how we help members understand their performance within the global marketplace.
And, of course, Merlin Connect. While others guard old models, we saw that emerging platforms needed a fresh approach to music licensing. These platforms want quality music but traditional licensing remains complex, slow, and expensive. We built something different: a streamlined path to independent music, backed by API delivery and hands-on support. This isn’t another licensing deal – we’re investing in the future of independent music and creating a blueprint for how music powers the next wave of digital experiences. What’s most exciting? The unlimited possibilities we can explore and technologies we haven’t even heard of yet.
Through Merlin Connect, we’re opening new channels for our members’ music while solving a critical market problem. It’s exciting that platforms want to work exclusively with Merlin and its members as their music solution of choice. They know the transformative impact our members’ music will have on their platforms and we can’t wait to be the catalyst for that impact this year.
2025 and Beyond
Let’s crank our initiatives up to 11:
Super Serve Our Members: With our Insights visualization rollout, we will expand the scope of business intelligence available to our members, and deliver it via a self-serve tool in the Wizard.
Supercharge Merlin Connect: Let’s continue to drive opportunities into emerging platforms and create monetization opportunities by making music accessible to more business innovators.
Expand Merlin Engage; Build More Community: This mentorship program, from across the global Merlin membership, is helping empower the next generation of female leaders in the independent music space. Last year, we expanded our program to 30 participants, brought on board a seasoned facilitator (Miriam Meima), and offered additional workshops in managing up, storytelling (also offered to program alumni), and other workshops in soft skills. This year we’re going bigger.
Enjoy a well-deserved break with your friends and family. I look forward to our work together in 2025 and beyond.
Let’s build a future for true independence!
Jeremy
LONDON — Proposed changes to U.K. copyright law that would allow tech companies to freely use songs for AI training without permission threaten to place the country’s status as a “world music power” at risk, record labels trade body BPI has warned.
In 2024, hit records by Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Coldplay and Taylor Swift helped lift the United Kingdom’s streaming market to a record high with just under 200 billion music tracks streamed across the 12 months, up 11% year-on-year, according to year-end figures released Tuesday (Dec. 31) by BPI.
Overall recorded music consumption across streaming and physical album sales rose by a tenth (9.7%) on 2023’s total to 201 million equivalent albums, marking a decade of uninterrupted growth, reports the organization, which represents over 500 independent record labels, as well as the U.K. arms of the three majors: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.
Trending on Billboard
However, the success of the U.K. music business is being challenged on multiple fronts, including intensifying competition from other global markets and proposed regulations around the use of artificial intelligence (AI), says BPI.
The proposed AI guidelines were announced by the British government two weeks ago (Dec. 17) as part of a 10-week consultation on how copyright-protected content, such as music, can lawfully be used by tech companies to train generative AI models. Among them is a controversial new data mining exception that would allow developers to use copyrighted songs for AI training, including commercial purposes, but only in instances where rights holders have not reserved their rights.
BPI chief executive Jo Twist said the proposed opt out mechanism was the “wrong way to realise the exciting potential of AI” and places the U.K.’s music and creative industries at risk by allowing “international tech giants to train AI models on artists’ work without payment or permission.”
“The U.K. remains a world music power, but this status cannot be taken for granted,” said Twist in a statement accompanying Tuesday’s year-end figures. She said that in order to continue to thrive, the U.K. music business needs “a supportive policy environment that puts the focus on human artistry and enables continued investment in the next generation of British talent.”
Of the current generation, more than 20 British groups and solo acts topped the U.K. albums chart in 2024, although Charli XCX and Coldplay were the only homegrown artists in the year’s top 10 best-selling artist albums list, occupying the eighth and ninth positions with Brat and Moon Music, respectively. Veteran British American rock band Fleetwood Mac had the year’s seventh most popular album with their compilation 50 Years – Don’t Stop.
Topping the year-end albums list was Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which has sold over 783,000 equivalent units since its release in April – the most for any artist release in a calendar year since 2017, reports BPI. The Tortured Poets Department was one of four albums by Swift to feature among the year’s 20 biggest titles alongside 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Lover and Folklore.
In total, female artists accounted for six of the top 10 and half of the 20 biggest selling artist albums in the U.K. last year with hit releases by Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo helping make it a landmark year for women.
Female artists also spent an unprecedented 34 weeks at No. 1 on the United Kingdom’s official singles chart, largely driven by Carpenter, who spent 21 weeks at the top with her three hit singles: “Espresso, “Please Please Please” and “Taste.” The best-selling single in the U.K. last year was Noah Kahan‘s “Stick Season,” which topped the U.K. charts for seven weeks, followed by Benson Boone‘s “Beautiful Things.”
Vinyl helps physical album sales return to growth
In terms of formats, streaming now makes up 88.8% of music sales in the United Kingdom, a marginal 1.1% rise on 2023’s figure and more than double streaming’s share of the U.K. market six years ago, reports BPI.
Meanwhile, physical sales experienced year-on-year growth for the first time since 1994 with vinyl and CD album purchases up 1.4% to 17.4 million units. Driving the resurgence in physical formats was a 17th consecutive annual rise in vinyl album sales which grew by just over 9% to 6.7 million units, marking a three-decade high.
The year’s most popular vinyl album was Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, which sold more than 111,000 vinyl copies, followed by a 30th anniversary reissue of Oasis‘ debut Definitely Maybe. Other top-selling vinyl titles included Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Fontaines D.C.‘ Romance, The Cure‘s Songs Of A Lost World and Charli XCX’s Brat.
CD sales fell 2.9% year-on-year to 10.5 million units, representing a significant slowdown on the 19% drop recorded in 2022 and the almost 7% slide in sales experienced in 2023. Digital album sales dropped almost 6% to 3.3 million units.
BPI’s preliminary year-end report doesn’t include financial sales data. Instead, it uses Official Charts Company data to measure U.K. music consumption in terms of volume. The London-based organization will publish its full year-end report, including recorded music revenues, later this year.
The U.K. is the world’s third-biggest recorded music market behind the U.S. and Japan with sales of $1.9 billion in 2023, according to IFPI. It is also the second-largest exporter of recorded music worldwide behind the U.S.
Tougher competition from other international markets, including Latin America and fast-growing countries like South Korea, has seen the U.K.’s share of the global recorded music market shrink over the past decade, however.
In 2015, artists from the United Kingdom cumulatively accounted for 17% of global music streams, according to BPI export figures. That figure now stands at 10% with U.K. artists accounting for just nine of the top 40 tracks streamed in the country last year – the highest being “Stargazing” by Myles Smith at number 12.
“From Coldplay, and Charli XCX, to The Last Dinner Party, and Myles Smith, there were plenty of examples of U.K. music success stories in 2024. But there are also rising challenges for domestic talent in a rapidly changing and hyper-competitive global music economy,” said BPI’s Jo Twist.
“By meeting the growing global challenge head-on, tackling challenges around AI, copyright and streaming fraud, and encouraging consumers towards viable models, like paid streaming subscriptions, we can help to ensure that the value of British music is protected and that our industry can continue to grow and flourish at home and around the world,” she said.
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Music Business Year In Review
LONDON — The music business is calling on the U.K. government to robustly protect copyright and “safeguard against misuse” by technology companies in any future regulations governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
On Tuesday (Dec. 17), the British government launched a 10-week consultation on how copyright protected content, such as music, can lawfully be used by developers to train generative AI models.
The proposals include introducing a new data mining exception to copyright law that would allow AI developers to use copyrighted songs for AI training, including commercial purposes, but only in instances where rights holders have not reserved their rights. Such an opt out mechanism, says the government proposal, gives creators and rights holders the ability to control, licence and monetize the use of their content – or prevent their works being used by AI developers entirely.
The consultation also recommends new transparency requirements for AI developers around what content they have used to train their models and how it was obtained, as well as the labelling of AI-generated material.
Trending on Billboard
Policymakers will additionally seek views from stakeholders on the protection of personality and image rights, and whether the current legal framework provides sufficient protection against AI-generated deepfake imitations.
“Currently, uncertainty about how copyright law applies to AI is holding back both sectors from reaching their full potential,” said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in a statement announcing the consultation. “It can make it difficult for creators to control or seek payment for the use of their work, and creates legal risks for AI firms, stifling AI investment, innovation, and adoption.”
The government said that its proposed changes to copyright law will give clarity to AI developers over what content they are legally allowed to use when training generative AI models and “enhance” creators’ ability to be paid for the use of their work.
Before any new exceptions to copyright law can be introduced, further work would need to take place to ensure transparency standards and the mechanisms for rights holders to reserve their rights are “effective, accessible and widely adopted,” said DCMS.
“This government firmly believes that our musicians, writers, artists and other creatives should have the ability to know and control how their content is used by AI firms and be able to seek licensing deals and fair payment,” said Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in a statement. “Achieving this, and ensuring legal certainty, will help our creative and AI sectors grow and innovate together in partnership.”
The start of the government’s long-awaited consultation on AI policy comes amid heightened lobbying from both the creative and technology industries. On Monday, a coalition of rights holders, including record labels, music publishers and artist groups, came together to call for copyright protection to be at the heart of any U.K. AI legislation.
The newly formed Creative Rights in AI Coalition, whose members include U.K. record labels trade body BPI, umbrella organization UK Music and the Music Publishers Association, wants policymakers to draw up AI laws that permit a “mutually beneficial, dynamic licensing market” built around “robust protections for copyright.”
The creative industries coalition said any future AI legislation must ensure accountability and compliance from AI developers and tech companies, who it said have thus far been exploiting copyright protected works “without permission, ignoring copyright protections and clear reservations of rights.”
The U.K. creative industries generated around £125 billion ($158 billion) for the country’s economy last year, according to government figures, with the music industry contributing a record £7.6 billion, up 13% year-on-year, of that total, according to UK Music research.
The U.K. is the world’s third-biggest recorded music market behind the U.S. and Japan with sales of $1.9 billion in 2023, according to IFPI. It is also the second-largest exporter of recorded music worldwide behind the U.S.
“Without proper control and remuneration for creators, investment in high-quality content will fall,” said the coalition, which also includes the Association of Independent Music (AIM) and British collecting societies PRS for Music and PPL, as well as trade groups representing photographers, illustrators, journalists, authors and filmmakers.
“Just as tech firms are content to pay for the huge quantity of electricity that powers their data centres, they must be content to pay for the high-quality copyright-protected works which are essential to train and ground accurate generative AI models.”
In a separate statement, BPI CEO Jo Twist said the organization was looking forward to working with the government on developing its AI policy but said it remains the BPI’s “firm view” that introducing a new exception to copyright for AI training “would weaken the U.K’s copyright system and offer AI companies permission to take – for their own profit, and without authorisation or compensation – the product of U.K. musicians’ hard work, expertise, and investment.”
“It would amount to a wholly unnecessary subsidy, worth billions of pounds, to overseas tech corporations at the expense of homegrown creators,” said Twist in a statement. She went on to say that opt-out schemes in other markets similar to what is being proposed by the U.K. government have been shown to increase legal uncertainty, “are unworkable in practice, and are woefully ineffective” in protecting creators’ rights.
The government’s recommendation to introduce a new copyright exception for AI training is an idea that it has floated before – and received strong push back from the music industry to. In 2021, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) was heavily criticized by artists, labels and publishers for suggesting a new text and data mining (TDM) exception that would have allowed AI developers to freely use copyright-protected works for commercial purposes (albeit with certain restrictions).
Those proposals were quietly shelved by the government the following year but progress on any U.K. legislation governing the use of AI has been slow to arrive. In contrast, the 27-member block European Union, which the United Kingdom officially left in 2020, passed its world-first Artificial Intelligence Act – requiring transparency and accountability from AI developers – in March.
Meanwhile, other major music markets, including the United States, Japan and China are advancing their own attempts to regulate the nascent technology amid loud opposition from creators and rights holders over the unauthorized use of their work to train generative AI systems.
Earlier this year, the three major record companies – Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — filed lawsuits against AI music firms Suno and Udio alleging the widespread infringement of copyrighted sound recordings “at an almost unimaginable scale” Sony Music and Warner Music have additionally issued public notices to AI companies warning them against scraping their copyrighted data.
More recently, in October, thousands of musicians, composers, actors and authors from across the creative industries – as well as all three major record labels – signed a statement opposing the unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI. The number of signatories has since risen to more than 37,000 people, including ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, all five members of Radiohead and The Cure’s Robert Smith.
Merlin, which oversees digital licensing for the independent sector, has outlined its position on the use of music in training artificial intelligence in a new memo.
Like many organizations in the music industry, Merlin supports “AI products that aid human creativity, or provide new opportunities for artists to create and collaborate in developing new original works,” wrote the organization in a mission statement shared with Billboard. But it strongly opposes “any product, regardless of its purpose, that has been trained on Merlin members’ music without permission.”
Sony Music and Warner Music Group, among others, made similar announcements earlier this year, warning AI companies not to harvest their data for training purposes. But Merlin’s statement on Friday suggests that its members are even more vulnerable than the major labels.
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“These are not multinational corporations,” Merlin notes. “They are often small businesses operating in support of artists who shape contemporary culture around the world, and who are trying to earn a living in an increasingly challenging environment. Unlicensed use of these artists’ work creates a genuine and imminent threat to artists’ livelihoods and the livelihoods of those who work to support them.”
Like Merlin, most — if not all — music industry rightsholders believe that AI companies should license their music if they want to use those catalogs of recordings to develop song generation technology. Statements from a number of AI companies, however, indicate that they aren’t interested in paying. They often argue that training their models fall under “fair use,” the U.S. legal doctrine that allows for the unlicensed use of copyrighted works in certain situations.
But Merlin hit back against this argument on Friday: “Taking someone else’s creative work — without permission, without compensation, and with the specific purpose of using that work to create new works that are substitutional for the original — is inherently not fair use,” the statement reads.
“AI companies and their investors would, we assume, look to copyright and other IP law to protect against any unauthorized uses of their technology,” Merlin continued. But ironically, “AI companies are rightly protective over their models and proprietary software, yet some seem to view other people’s intellectual property as ‘free data’ to feed their algorithm.”
Read Merlin’s full memo below.
Merlin is the independents’ digital licensing partner. Merlin’s primary function is to enable innovative and properly-compensated uses of its members’ music. This is clearly demonstrated by the partnerships Merlin has in place with so many of the world’s leading digital services.
All of our partnerships have one thing in common: our partners value music. While our partnerships have evolved over the years, they respect the human artistry involved in creating music and the financial investment needed to nurture, distribute and market it. The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) does nothing to change that.
Merlin and its members have always embraced and adapted to technological change, while ensuring that the value of human creativity is respected. Artistic expression is a fundamental part of what makes us human. The ability to create, appreciate, and enjoy art, in all its forms, is foundational to the human experience. Music, in particular, brings people together, evokes emotions, and helps us express thoughts and feelings.
Merlin recognises the enormous power of AI and its benefits to the creative community and society as a whole; but, if AI is left unregulated, the impact on the creative industries and, by extension, global culture will be devastating.
Merlin believes that, when developed and implemented responsibly, AI technologies can be additive to the creative landscape. AI products that aid human creativity, or provide new opportunities for artists to create and collaborate in developing new original works, are products that Merlin supports. Merlin and its members are ready to partner with AI companies that want to be on the right side of history – those that are willing properly to compensate Merlin members for use of their repertoire and to include appropriate guardrails to protect Merlin members’ rights.
However, Merlin cannot support any product, regardless of its purpose, that has been trained on Merlin members’ music without permission.
Merlin’s members, and the independent labels they represent, number in the thousands. These are not multinational corporations. They are often small businesses operating in support of artists who shape contemporary culture around the world, and who are trying to earn a living in an increasingly challenging environment. Unlicensed use of these artists’ work creates a genuine and imminent threat to artists’ livelihoods and the livelihoods of those who work to support them.
It has been suggested that training of AI models on artists’ work without permission should somehow be considered “fair use”. We believe it is the exact opposite of fair, both morally and legally.
The legal test for fair use involves four criteria, relating to the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyright work, the amount used, and the effect upon the market or value of the copyright work. Unlicensed commercial AI models fail on all four. Any AI company that trains its models by scraping the internet for copyright-protected sound recordings is making unauthorized reproductions of entire copyright works. Invariably, these copies are used for commercial purposes, and the AI-generated sound recordings resulting from the models pose a significant threat to the market for Merlin artists’ copyrighted sound recordings by creating directly competitive digital music files. There is much talk about these uses being fair merely because the outputs are “transformative”, but even transformative uses need to take into account the impact on the original works, and the extent to which they are substitutional for the original. In the case of AI-generated music, the substitutional impact is obvious.
Taking someone else’s creative work – without permission, without compensation, and with the specific purpose of using that work to create new works that are substitutional for the original – is inherently not fair use.
In seeking to license their music, Merlin members and their artists are not leveraging their copyrights to gain an unfair advantage. They are doing their best to earn a living and to protect rights in their expressive works. This is no different to how AI companies and their investors would, we assume, look to copyright and other IP law to protect against any unauthorized uses of their technology. AI companies are rightly protective over their models and proprietary software, yet some seem to view other people’s intellectual property as “free data” to feed their algorithm.
It is Merlin’s position, and that of its members, that any and all uses of Merlin member repertoire for training, development or implementation of AI models and related purposes requires explicit written authorization from Merlin or the applicable Merlin member. Merlin’s policy is clearly displayed on its website at https://merlinnetwork.org/policy-on-ai/.
If you are a responsible AI company that seeks to use independent music to train a model, or to offer a product or service that is additive to the music ecosystem and has intrinsic creative benefit to music creators, please contact us at ResponsibleAI@merlinnetwork.org.
12/10/2024
Between the the majors suing Suno and Udio, the ELVIS Act protecting voices against deepfakes and “BBL Drizzy” setting legal precedent, it’s been a big year for AI music.
12/10/2024