Top Music Artists’ Open Letter Against AI
200+ leading music artists including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Sam Smith, and Katy Perry unite under the Artists Rights Alliance to challenge the unethical use of AI in music, championing human creativity.
The Artists Rights Alliance (ARA), supported by an array of notable music artists, including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, and Camila Cabello, has issued an open letter calling for a halt to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that infringe upon and diminish the rights of human artists. This coalition of around 200 musicians and creators, which also includes names like Sam Smith, HYBE, Jon Bon Jovi, and Norah Jones, has sounded the alarm over AI’s potential to produce vocal “copycats,” posing a significant threat to the livelihood and creative expression of popular artists.
The concern centers on AI developers utilizing musical works without authorization to train AI to mimic the voices and styles of human artists, creating a flood of AI-generated content that competes directly with original human-created music. This practice, according to the ARA, not only threatens the income of working musicians but also undermines the value of music as an art form for both artists and fans.
Jen Jacobsen, the executive director of the ARA, emphasized the challenges musicians face in the streaming era, now compounded by the need to contend with AI-generated content. The unethical use of generative AI technology, she argued, devalues the entire music ecosystem.
The artists’ open letter acknowledges the potential of AI to foster human creativity when used responsibly. However, it also highlights the detrimental impact of some platforms and developers employing AI to undercut creativity and exploit artists, songwriters, musicians, and rights holders. This call to action reflects a broader concern within the music industry about the predatory use of AI to mimic artists’ voices and likenesses without consent.
This campaign gains further relevance in light of recent legal actions. In October 2023, three major music publishers sued Anthropic, a company known for training AI models with internet-sourced information, alleging copyright infringement on song lyrics. Such legal challenges underscore the pressing need for regulations that protect artists’ rights in the age of AI.
The artists behind the open letter are urging digital music platforms and services to pledge against developing or deploying AI music-generation technology that could replace human creativity or deny artists fair compensation for their work. This movement marks a critical moment in the ongoing debate over the intersection of technology and creative rights in the music industry, especially with a diverse range of AI music tools like Suno AI rising recently.