told CNN<\/a> the intention behind the AI artist is to enhance the artistry of Jones\u2019 lyrics.<\/p>\n\u201cWe used AI as a tool, which is what it was created for. We used it to enhance our artistry,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cWe created real R&B music, music that was rooted in the truth \u2014 real lyrics, and her real life experiences and life lessons. AI helped us bring the message to life and deliver it to the world. But the artistry and the message behind it is all human.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever the intention behind the creation, Douglas said he isn\u2019t ready to hear AI music on the radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think here at Flow, we know what our listeners want. And although that artist might have numbers elsewhere, it just doesn’t \u2014 it doesn’t feel right for us,\u201d he said. \u201cRight now, I would say Flow\u2019s airwaves are reserved for real artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he understands that AI can be used in different ways to support creating new music, Douglas said the technology can be a slippery slope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI support the tool to get the product out. I just don’t support the entire tool being the product \u2026. What’s going to happen when it’s time to go on tour? Are we going to get holograms?\u201d<\/p>\n
Considering the station gets \u201ctons of music submissions\u201d from people looking for their big break, Douglas thinks there needs to be a wider conversation about whether AI-generated music should get space on the radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a ton of real artists here in the city, let alone across the world, that are just waiting to be discovered and heard,\u201d he said. \u201cLet’s put our time and effort into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
For artists, there’s concern that real people \u2014 who bring emotion and lived experience to their music \u2014 could be phased out in favour of technology that can generate content at an unmatchable pace. Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, founder of the advocacy organization United Musicians and Allied Workers, said it\u2019s difficult enough for artists to make a living today, due to the popularity of streaming platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re hearing a lot from our members, and from people that I am around, that this is terrifying,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s yet more very clear evidence of how desperately we need regulation around AI, and around digital music more broadly, because there’s just hardly anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
AI artists like Monet don\u2019t just find success overnight, he says, no matter how it may look online. Instead, he says it\u2019s the result of streaming services, record labels and other major industry players putting millions of dollars into supporting AI artists, siphoning it away from real ones.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re seeing just how the music industry works, as they can promote whatever they want to the top,\u201d DeFrancesco said. \u201cWithout regulation we’re going to be seeing more and more of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as generative AI technology continues to evolve rapidly across all sectors, it’s unclear exactly how its use in the music industry can or should be regulated.<\/p>\n
Miro Oballa, an entertainment lawyer and partner at Toronto\u2019s Taylor Oballa Murray Leyland, says copyright law often falls behind technological advancements \u2014 so there\u2019s little legislation governing the use of AI in making music.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the most part, I would say what the common consensus right now is, is that something made entirely by a machine is not capable of copyright protection,\u201d he said. \u201cThere needs to be human input.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to said legislation, Oballa says it will take some time to figure out the best approach.<\/p>\n
And he noted there would be difficulties in legislating how you can and can\u2019t use AI in the industry.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cI mean, you can legislate anything, but I don’t think that’s the right way to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for why music executives would want to support an AI artist, Oballa says the business case is likely about minimizing risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople get nervous. People have anxiety issues. People end up having children, people’s priorities change, right? Sometimes people develop addiction issues, right? There’s a whole bunch of things that can come into play, that can disrupt the predictability and reliability of consistent, replicable creative output,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s where an AI artist starts to have some appeal, and that’s where possibly the interests of the industry and the artists start to diverge.\u201d<\/p>\n