New survey finds that most music fans want restrictions on AI in music-making

A new survey has discovered that most music fans believe restrictions should be put in place on using artificial intelligence (AI) in music.

As part of the Global Music Report the IFPI collected responses from over 43,000 music fans from across 26 countries.

This year’s results reveal that despite the growth in mimicing artists' work, with tracks using AI vocals to replicate famous musicians going viral, 74% agreed that AI should not be used to impersonate artists without their consent.

On top of this, 76% said AI should not be allowed to use music without permission.

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The majority of participants (79%) agree that human creativity is the most essential part of the creation of music whilst 73% said that music which uses AI should clearly state that it has.

However, earlier this year, music distribution company Ditto Music revealed that 59.5% of artists are already using AI to create music, while a further 47% are inclined AI for songwriting in the future.

This year also saw the rise of AI in music as the controversial track ‘heart on my sleeve’ went viral using AI vocals of The Weeknd and Drake.

The lyrics included AI Drake calling 21 Savage “my brother” and the clone of The Weeknd’s voice “claim” that his ex-partner Selena Gomez cheated on him before the pair broke up in 2017.

Last year a track by China-based Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) claimed to be the first track using AI vocals to surpass 100 million streams.

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“While music fans around the world see both opportunities and threats for music from artificial intelligence, their message is clear: authenticity matters,” said Frances Moore, IFPI’s chief executive to Music Week.

Moore added: “In particular, fans believe that A.I. systems should only use music if pre-approved permission is obtained and that they should be transparent about the material ingested by their systems. These are timely reminders for policymakers as they consider how to implement standards for responsible and safe A.I.”

Check out the IFPI’s Global Music Report here.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter