The open letter lists Consent and Control, Fair Compensation, and Clarity and Transparency as the core principals that should underpin all AI music deals. Photo: Shutterstock.
The open letter, Artists and Songwriters Must Not Be Pressured Into AI Deals Without Meaningful Consent, has been coordinated by EMMA (the European Music Managers Alliance) – a network representing music manager organisations across Europe. The alliance works to support, promote and advocate for music managers and the artists they represent, while championing a fair and sustainable music industry.
The letter warns that some artists and songwriters are being automatically opted into AI-related uses under existing agreements, while others are being presented with AI clauses as a standard condition of signing new contracts. It calls on record labels, publishers, AI companies, policymakers and digital platforms to ensure creators remain at the centre of decisions about how their work is used.
Core principals
The signatories set out three core principles that should underpin all AI music deals:
- Consent and Control: Artists and songwriters must actively and specifically consent before their work, voice, performance, likeness or creative identity is used in connection with AI, and must retain control over how it is used.
- Fair Compensation: Creators who choose to participate in AI-related uses must receive fair remuneration and share in the value generated from their work.
- Clarity and Transparency: Artists, songwriters and their representatives must receive clear, timely and understandable information about any AI-related proposal before being asked to make a decision.
The letter also calls on all companies entering into AI music deals to make a clear and public commitment to:
- No default opt-ins.
- No forced AI clauses.
- No use of artists’ work, voice, performance, likeness or creative identity without meaningful consent, fair remuneration and full transparency.
Read the full letter via EMMA.
We will continue the fight for fair treatment of artists
Phil Kear, MU Assistant General Secretary says: “We really appreciate the work that the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA) is doing to highlight the ongoing imbalance between music creators and their labels and publishers when it comes to use of their creative works to train Artificial Intelligence systems.
“It was sadly predictable that as soon as legal action had seen off the outright theft of artists' work by AI tech firms, labels and publishers would immediately claim they already had all the rights necessary to license for AI training and artists needn't be consulted or paid. We've seen it before with music streaming and are still fighting for a fair share of that revenue for creators.
“We will now need to double our efforts, alongside our fellow creator representatives, like EMMA, to fight for fair treatment of artists when it comes to AI."