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The Rise of AI-Generated Music and Its Threat to the Industry

In recent years, AI-generated music has evolved rapidly, transforming the way that musicians approach the ideation, writing and production of new music. With algorithms now capable of composing entire tracks without human input, the music industry faces a scary reality–for the first time ever, hit songs can be created with no human involvement.


So, as AI-generated music proliferates, what does this mean for music? Read on to explore AI-generated music and its impact on the wider industry, highlighting the effect of entirely AI-generated songs on creativity, integrity and the economy.


AI-generated music

AI-Generated Music: Some Background

AI in music began as an assistive tool, helping musicians with composition and production. Early experiments used algorithms to analyze and mimic basic musical patterns. Over the past decade, advancements in machine learning and deep neural networks have enabled AI to independently generate complex compositions. Today, AI platforms can create full songs that closely mimic human-crafted works, offering everything from background tracks for content creators to full commercial releases.


The Threat to Artists and the Music Economy

Despite its impressive nature, AI-generated music threatens to undermine both the creative and economic foundations of the music industry. At an independent level, artists now find themselves competing against cheaper and faster AI-generated compositions that can create genre-spanning works with ease.


On top of this, such an influx of automated tracks inevitably continues to flood the market, diluting the value of genuine artistry and making it harder for human creators to gain recognition and monetize their work.


The Threat to Music Copyright Law - Suno & Udio

The question of ownership and IP also becomes increasingly murky in the context of AI-generated music. Within this, two larger questions are of importance; 1) what data do generative AI music platforms train on? And 2) who therefore holds the copyrights to the music created by such platforms?


Suno and Udio, arguably the industry's two biggest generative AI music names, are at the centre of such questions. These platforms offer tools that allow users to create full compositions across various genres with minimal effort, with both companies attracting an array of creatives and enjoying significant success.


However, the validity of their training processes are in serious contention, and as such, both companies are currently facing a major lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and several major labels–including Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Inc., and Warner Records, Inc.–who argue that these platforms are using protected works to train their algorithms without permission.


Recently, Suno made a major admission regarding its training data, detailing that it includes "essentially all music files of reasonable quality that are accessible on the open internet"–a sizeable portion of which is copyrighted/unlicensed, and therefore owned by rights holders who aren't remunerated for use of their art.


The threat is clear: without the correct legislative and technological measures in place, AI-generated music has the potential to significantly harm the industry economy, robbing rights holders of the appropriate crediting and compensation. In an already-volatile industry which is often criticized for its tough barrier to entry, this could make it even harder for musicians and industry professionals to attain and maintain a living.


MatchTune: A Solution for Detecting AI-Generated Music

Having spotted this growing threat, MatchTune strived to counteract it with a comprehensive solution. That's why, after a long development process, we're proud to introduce our proprietary detection technology that identifies and flags Suno-generated compositions with an industry-leading 95% accuracy (reflecting a false positive rate of just 0.01% and a false negative rate of 4.99%).


By meticulously disassembling the AI music generation process, we were able to identify the unique SUNO signature and patterns and recognize such content in less than a second. This detection process was rigorously validated using a dataset of 4,000 real tracks and 4,000 SUNO-generated tracks– data and results that we're making available to professionals, labels, PROs, and publishers.


With an update in the works to mirror this protection for So-Vits and Udio-generated content, MatchTune's technology offers a crucial defense for musicians and labels, ensuring that human-created compositions are recognized and protected. This achievement is a game-changer for the industry, as the first line of defense to protect artists' work from unauthorized AI replication.


Looking to learn more? Get in touch here.


Conclusion

As AI-generated music continues to reshape the industry, its impact of creativity, integrity, and economic viability should be carefully questioned. AI has the potential to revolutionize the music production process in an abundance of ways, but throughout this process, it's never been more important to advocate for the rights of those at the heart of music creation and distribution.


Legislative solutions, and technological tools such as MatchTune’s detection technology, will prove to be critical additions to the fight, helping to preserve the value of authentic artistry while ensuring the music industry can navigate the complexities of AI-generated compositions.

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