{"id":83617,"date":"2026-06-23T21:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/83617\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T21:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:00:14","slug":"industry-letter-claims-musicians-are-being-forced-into-ai-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/83617\/","title":{"rendered":"Industry letter claims musicians are being forced into AI deals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A coalition of advocacy groups for artists, songwriters and managers is warning musicians about the growing risks of artificial intelligence<\/a> music.<\/p>\n

Recently, many major record labels have inked deals with AI <\/a>music startups such as Suno, Udio and Klay<\/a>. But the coalition, which includes organizations such as the Music Artists Coalition and the Songwriters of North America, argues in a new letter that \u201cartists and songwriters whose works, voices, performances, likenesses and creative identities make those deals valuable are not being meaningfully consulted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter, released Monday, stated that many artists and songwriters in existing recording and publishing agreements are currently receiving letters from their labels and publishers claiming that they \u201cwill be opted in to AI-related uses by default, with little actual choice offered.\u201d Even new artists are receiving agreements that include \u201cAI rights clauses as a standard condition of signing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support innovation and recognise that AI can create new opportunities for music,\u201d the coalition wrote in the letter. \u201cHowever artists are not simply catalogue assets, and innovation cannot be used to override artists\u2019 rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Independent Talent Organization, a live entertainment advocacy group that signed the letter, said many of its members are coming to the organization with label contracts that include \u201cnon-negotiable AI usage clauses.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t allow for contract language signed decades before this technology existed to be the standard bearer. These rights belong to the creators and they get the final say on usage,\u201d said Nathaniel Marro, NITO\u2019s executive director, in a statement to The Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic companies are leading the fight to protect artists\u2019 and songwriters\u2019 rights in the age of AI,\u201d said a spokesperson for IFPI, the recording industry\u2019s global trade body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile our members have taken different approaches, they share the same fundamental objectives: combating the unauthorized use of music and establishing licensing models that return revenue to artists and songwriters,\u201d the IFPI spokesperson added. <\/p>\n

The coalition is asking the industry to move forward on AI<\/a> deals only under four conditions: that musicians directly consent to any agreement; that artists receive fair compensation; that there be transparency between the companies and the talent; and that companies make a public commitment to end contracts built on default AI opt-ins and forced AI clauses.<\/p>\n

\u201cArtists need a real seat in these conversations, clear terms on revenue share, and the ability to say no without losing their deal,\u201d said Ron Gubitz, the Music Artists Coalition\u2019s executive director, in a statement. <\/p>\n

This letter comes at a time when policymakers are reviewing copyright rules in response to AI<\/a> and when streaming platforms and social media platforms are overflowing with AI-generated music<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A little over two weeks ago, the American Federation of Musicians sued Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group<\/a>. The complaint claims the major labels \u201creceived significant compensation\u201d from the AI companies for past copyright violations and licensed \u201csubstantial\u201d portions of their music catalogs to them, but haven\u2019t shared that with the musicians.<\/p>\n

Despite the confrontational tone of the letter, some signatories struck a more conciliatory note. Overall, the industry seems to be receptive to these AI changes, said Willie \u201cProphet\u201d Stiggers of the Black Music Action Coalition, another signatory advocacy group. At this point in AI\u2019s development, he added, everyone in the industry \u2014 from artists and labels to AI start-ups and policymakers \u2014 has a responsibility to establish effective guardrails.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe companies building these technologies understand that trust is essential to long-term success, and trust begins with respecting creators\u2019 rights,\u201d Stiggers said in a statement to The Times. \u201cThere\u2019s still important work ahead, but we\u2019re encouraged that the conversation has shifted from whether protections are needed to how we build them together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe structures being created now will shape the music ecosystem for years to come,\u201d the coalition\u2019s letter said. \u201cThe future of music must be built with artists, songwriters and their representatives, not imposed on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Times staff writer Wendy Lee contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A coalition of advocacy groups for artists, songwriters and managers is warning musicians about the growing risks of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,13969,45206,25,6125,30865,532,45203,45205,3146,45204,18821,45202,9198,45201,2394,809],"class_list":["post-83617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-ai-deal","tag-ai-music-start-up","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artist","tag-coalition","tag-company","tag-industry-letter","tag-many-major-record-label","tag-music","tag-music-artists-coalition","tag-musician","tag-new-letter","tag-right","tag-songwriter","tag-statement","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}