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YouTube is in talks with record labels to license an artificial intelligence tool that replicates music from popular artists, hoping to win over a skeptical industry by paying it forward.
The Google-owned video site needs content from labels to legally train its AI song generator as it prepares to launch a new tool this year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The company recently offered lump sums of cash to major labels Sony, Warner and Universal to persuade more artists to use their music to train AI software, according to several people briefed on the talks.
However, many artists are strongly opposed to the AI music generation on the grounds that it could damage the value of their works. Any move by a label to involve its star in such a scheme would be highly controversial.
“The industry is thinking about this. “Strictly speaking, the agency owns the copyright, but we have to think about how to reproduce it,” he said. “We don’t want to be seen as Luddites.”
YouTube last year began testing a generative AI tool that lets people create short music clips by entering text prompts. Originally named 'Dream Track', this product was designed to imitate the sounds and lyrics of famous singers.
However, only 10 artists, including Charli
YouTube wants to sign up dozens of artists to launch a new AI song generator this year, two of the people said.
YouTube said it had “no intention to expand Dream Tracks, but is in talks with record labels about other experiments.”
Licensing or Litigation
At a time when AI companies like OpenAI are signing licensing deals with media groups to train large-scale language models, the systems that power AI products like ChatGPT chatbots, YouTube is seeking new deals. Some of these deals are worth tens of millions of dollars to media companies, insiders say.
Deals negotiated in music will be different. It would apply to a select group of artists rather than a blanket license, according to people briefed on the discussions.
It will be up to the label to encourage artists to participate in new projects. This means that the final amount YouTube is willing to pay the record label has not been determined at this stage.
The deal would look more like social media companies like Meta and Snap making one-time payments to entertainment groups for access to their music, rather than the royalty-based deals labels have with Spotify or Apple, these people said.
YouTube's new AI tool, which is unlikely to carry the Dream Track brand, could form part of the YouTube Shorts platform that competes with TikTok. Negotiations are continuing and the terms of the deal could still change, the people said.
YouTube's latest move comes as major record companies on Monday sued Suno and Udio, two AI startups they claim are illegally using copyrighted recordings to train AI models. A music industry group is seeking “up to $150,000 per infringed work,” according to the filing.
Music companies, which faced the threat of extinction with the emergence of Napster in the 2000s, are now trying to stay ahead of disruptive technologies. Labels want to get involved in licensing products that use AI to create songs using music copyrights and get paid for them.
Sony Music, which was not involved in the first phase of YouTube's AI experiments, is negotiating with the tech group to contribute some of its music to the new tool, according to people familiar with the matter. Warner and Universal, whose artists participated in the testing phase, are also discussing product expansion with YouTube, the official said.
In April, more than 200 musicians signed an open letter, including the estates of Billie Eilish and Frank Sinatra.
“Unchecked, AI will begin a race to the bottom that will devalue our work and prevent us from receiving fair compensation for it,” the letter reads.
YouTube added: “We are always testing new ideas and learning through experimentation. This is an important part of our innovation process. We will continue on this path with AI and music for the future.”
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