Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) recently announced a new agreement that could mark a significant step in the relationship between technology and the music industry.
The new global agreement allows tracks from UMG’s catalog to be used across all of Meta’s social media platforms.
The agreement opens the doors to a collaboration that aims to redefine the role of music on social media, including not only traditional Facebook e Instagrambut also WhatsAppMessenger, Horizon, Threads.
The partnership between UMG and Meta, which saw Universal Music become the first major label to license its recorded and publishing music catalogs across all Facebook platforms, began in 2017.
Since then, the two companies have continued to collaborate to develop innovative ways to integrate virtual reality experiences, user-generated content, live streaming and other features.
With the new agreement, the Monetization possibilities for UMGits artists and authors, with a particular focus on short videos and on theMusic integration on WhatsApp.
AI? A pact made “with leaden feet”
In recent years, the music industry has seen a radical shift in the way content is consumed and distributed.
The AI generated music is gaining more and more ground, offering new opportunities to content creators.
With this agreement, Meta and Universal Music promise to explore these possibilities, aiming to create an environment where users can not only listen, but also interact with music in completely new ways.
This should pave the way for greater personalization of “musical experiences,” as people will be able to access unique songs created based on their preferences and/or use music more freely and without limitations in digital creations, from video productions to simple everyday voice messages.
However, at least for now, no real initiatives can be seen in the regulation of these processes, and Michael Nash himself, chief digital officer of UMG, speaks of collaborations in the future, rather than in the present: “We look forward to continuing to work together to address the problem of unauthorized AI-generated content that could affect artists and songwriters, so that UMG can continue to protect their rights both now and in the future.”.
The Clone Wars
How will intellectual property be regulated in the case of AI-generated music? What will be the implications for the rights of artists and creators?
Let us remember, moreover, that less than two months ago, Universal Music, Sony and Warner were negotiating with YouTubeat the initiative of the latter, an agreement on the licensing of songs by well-known artists to allow artificial intelligence software to be legally “trained” to generate music and tracks.
The danger around the corner is that AI will start creating “clones” of artists and bands, which in addition to creating an enormous legal problem that still needs to be unraveled, would guarantee the definitive flattening of music on a global level.
Effectively, this has already happened: YT, in fact, launched an AI function (Dream Track Shorts) last year for produce music in the style of John LegendDemi Lovato and other artists (about ten in total).
Last January, more than 200 artists – including Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam and Katy Perry – called on tech companies to stop using AI to “violate and devalue the rights of human artists”.
