Record Labels Sue Music Ai Generators, Dejavu of The 2000s

Major record labels are suing Ai music companies Suno and Udio for copyright infringement.

Only last week, I posted a song on Linkedin I made with Suno, and in the comments, we were discussing this very topic. It was just a matter of time before lawsuits started.

It’s been a busy month for lawyers since also Perplexity, my favorite Ai search engine, was recently accused of “ripping off” others’ work without proper attribution or permission.

Nothing of this is new.

In the early 2000s, when music peer-to-peer sharing peaked, record labels sued everyone, from tech companies to end users. It seems it didn’t work out, and a new industry emerged: online music streaming.

I don't see how this time can be different.

At the end of the day, Ai doesn't do anything that a human couldn't also do.

To use Benedict Evans' words, Ai is just "infinite interns" at your disposal.

Even human musicians create music based on their experience and taste, developed after years of listening to and learning from others' music.

The new problem, though, is scale.

Thanks to Ai tools, it's now much easier and faster to create original music. This will inevitably have a significant impact on the music industry. But it's not about copyright; it's about the inflated music supply and competition. More songs on Spotify mean more people to share the revenue with.

Like everything else in the world of Ai, good quality work will remain and continue to be made by humans. However, low-quality work will easily be replaced.

I just read the news about a major label signing the "artist" behind "Looking for a Man in Finance." If signing viral 19-second sounds is labels' strategy for the future, then yes, I'm not surprised they're scared of Ai!