Major labels reach deal with AI music startup

It’s finally happened – all three major labels, Universal, Sony, and Warner, have reached a deal with an AI music startup, Bloomberg reports. The startup, Klay, is led by music producer Ary Attie, and has referred to itself as an “ethical AI” company. According to Bloomberg, the product it’s building will include features like Spotify and let users remake songs in different styles using AI.

A press release from Warner on the deal reads:

At a time when many AI music projects are accused of unethical training protocols and practices towards the artistic community, KLAY has, from the beginning, taken a unique path, working in partnership with the music industry to pioneer a new active listening model designed to enhance both human creativity and the consumer experience. The platform reimagines listening with immersive, interactive tools powered by KLAY’s Large Music Model, trained entirely on licensed music. All experiences created through the platform will enhance, rather than replace, human creativity, ensuring artistry remains at the center and copyright is diligently protected.

KLAY is not a prompt-based meme generation engine designed to supplant human artists. Rather, it is an entirely new subscription product that will uplift great artists and celebrate their craft. Within KLAY’s system, fans can mold their musical journeys in new ways while ensuring participating artists and songwriters are properly recognized and rewarded.

The press release also claims Klay will “help further evolve music experiences for fans, leveraging the potential of AI, while fully respecting the rights of artists, songwriters, and rightsholders.” Does that mean those artists will be able to opt out of having their work remade, or trained on? That remains unclear.

This deal follows numerous legal battles against AI from those in creative industries, and comes just as Warner settled a copyright infringement case with another AI company, Udio. It also comes as AI “artists” like The Velvet Sundown and Xania Monet make headlines, and Billboard said earlier this month that at least six “AI or AI-assisted artists” have debuted in various rankings on their charts.

Meanwhile, another seemingly non-existent “artist,” HAVEN, has recently had its viral AI-generated track “I Run” removed from Spotify, where it had gotten over 13 million streams. “Spotify strictly prohibits artist impersonation,” a statement from the streamer’s representative said. “This track was detected and removed, and no royalties were paid out for any streams generated.”