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\n\tThe San Jose-based conference, which Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has described as the \u201cSuper Bowl of AI,\u201d also featured speakers from OpenAI, Amazon, Uber, PepsiCo, Stanford University and more, speaking to a wide array of topics related to generative AI. In Grainge\u2019s fireside conversation, called \u201cBuilding the Future of Music and AI,\u201d the top music executive made a point to compare generative AI to technologies of the past, like the drum machine and digital music tools, noting that through partnership, he believes AI can be used to artists\u2019 benefit. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI love change. I love disruption. I like it in my company,\u201d Grainge said. \u201cIt\u2019s the same with technology. We\u2019ve always done everything that we can to lean in. It\u2019s the same with music.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRead an excerpt of their conversation below:<\/p>\n
\n\tKerris: Are there areas that you refuse to compromise on [as the leader of UMG]?<\/p>\n
\n\tGrainge: Artists and investment\u2026 If you\u2019re inspired by something, by a piece of music, by backing someone, it\u2019s an investment. I have to protect the investment. That is the North Star: investment. That means in people, in talent, in ideas, in music, in scenes, in genres, and now, obviously for the last 15 to 18 years, it\u2019s investment in technology, too.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen Spotify started, there was a lot of fear, concern, the threat of it, but you saw it differently. How did you see it as a tool in your for your company?<\/p>\n
\n\tEvery time there\u2019s been any change \u2014 from cassettes into vinyl and obviously digital \u2014 I saw the entire creative, and sometimes the investment, community be concerned by it. I heard all the negatives about digital recording. I mean, that may sound bizarre now, but there were concerns in the artist community\u2026 I\u2019m used to new developments and people getting used to things. Generally, when people don\u2019t know what the future can look like, they\u2019re obviously reticent.<\/p>\n
\n\tYou were the first company to do a deal with Facebook, I think that was a real turning point in the industry.<\/p>\n
\n\tWe were the first people to lean in and make a deal with what was Facebook at the time and again, there were always concerns about that [among artists]. I\u2019m used to dealing with leadership and how you persuade people into understanding what the future can look like. I\u2019m very patient. We\u2019re quite sequential, and if it doesn\u2019t happen overnight, it doesn\u2019t bother me, because where the product\u2019s right, there\u2019s positive inevitability to it. So [UMG was also early on] UGC, I see a lot of what we\u2019ve developed with UGC [in AI] and [that\u2019s] why I\u2019m so positive about AI, in terms of its relationship with the music, the songs, the artistic expression and how it can be used, enjoyed, operated, and also how it can be monetized.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n
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