200 musical artists sign an open letter against unethical AI in music, what to know

The Artist Rights Alliance, an artist-led non-profit, has circulated an open letter with over 200 signatures from musical artists calling for action against harmful uses of AI in music from tech platforms.

The letter calls “… on AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to cease the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”

Some of the letter’s supporters include: Kacey Musgraves, Jon Bon Jovi, Billie Eilish, Darius Rucker, Elvis Costello, Jason Isbell, Marcus King, Noah Kahan, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow and Miranda Lambert.

The open letter comes at a time when deepfakes and voice cloning have increased and music industry professionals have noticed an alarming trend. Some artists, like Luke Bryan, have said they sometimes cannot tell when an AI-generated track is not them.

The use of music creations by AI developers who have not received permission to produce AI copies continues to increase, as well as the use of AI sounds, diluting royalty obligations.

More: Here’s how artificial intelligence is showing up in Nashville songwriting rooms

The letter says, “Make no mistake: we believe that, when used responsibly, AI has enormous potential to advance human creativity and in a manner that enables the development and growth of new and exciting experiences for music fans everywhere….

“Unfortunately, some platforms and developers are employing AI to sabotage creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rightsholders.”

It continues to ask for help from digital music platforms and music-based services, calling on these companies to pledge they will not develop or deploy AI music technology or content that can “undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work.”

“Working musicians are already struggling to make ends meet in the streaming world,” said Jen Jacobsen, the executive director of the Artist Rights Alliance.

“And now they have the added burden of trying to compete with a deluge of AI-generated noise. The unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists will devalue the entire music ecosystem—for artists and fans alike,” she said.

Last week, Tennessee signed into law the ELVIS Act, which is formally titled the “Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act.”

The bill makes Tennessee the first state to add voice protections to its personal privacy laws; other states and Congress are discussing similar legislation.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 200 musical artists sign an open letter against harmful AI in music