YouTube is in talks with music record labels to license songs for training artificial intelligence tools that clone songs by popular artists, according to a report by The Financial Times.
The platform is reportedly offering a one-time payment, rather than royalties, to notable music labels like Universal Music, Warner, and Sony. YouTube is planning to launch new AI tools this year and needs labels’ content to legally train AI song generators, sources told the outlet.
Until now, music artists have largely opposed the use of AI in music.
A letter signed by more than 200 artists including Billie Eilish and Frank Ocean last year in April expressed a firm stance against AI-generated music saying it could prove “catastrophic to the livelihoods of many working musicians, artists and songwriters.”
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Last year, YouTube started testing a generative AI tool called Dream Track that helps people create short music clips by cloning popular artists with text prompts.
But just 10 artists, including Charli XCX, John Legend, and Troye Sivan, agreed to sign on to the platform.
YouTube reportedly wants to sign up “dozens” of artists to roll out the tool this year, the report stated.
YouTube responded to the news, saying it was not looking to expand Dream Track but was having discussions with labels regarding other projects.
Sources also revealed that the structure of these deals would be different from the licensing deals that have been signed previously with AI firms, given that they would apply just to a select group of artists. In essence, the labels would be responsible for encouraging artists to join these projects. The value of the deal will eventually be determined according to the artists signed.
This month, major music record labels like Universal, Sony, and Warner sued two AI startups, Suno and Udio, for copyright infringement. The firms were illegally using their music to train their AI models, they alleged.
YouTube, on the other hand, could be hoping to appease the industry with proper payments instead.Sony, Warner, and Universal, are all in touch with YouTube to move negotiations forward, the report shared.
