News Navigator: What are the issues surrounding AI-generated music?

The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about music created by generative artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT, which is making remarkable progress.

Question: AI-generated images and texts have become common recently, but are they being used in music creation as well?

Answer: Yes. The development of computer-based automatic music composition systems has been ongoing since the mid-20th century, but like other fields, it has made remarkable progress with the emergence of generative AI. Since last year, AI music generation tools have been released one after another, allowing users to create music simply by specifying the genre or mood, or by inputting lyrics, even without any knowledge about composition.

Q: It sounds fun to be able to create music easily, but what are the concerns?

A: It may be true that creative possibilities will expand with this technology. At the same time, if a large amount of AI-generated music circulates, new issues may arise.

Many generative AI tools produce works by “machine learning” a large amount of data available on the internet, such as human-created works. There are concerns from the music industry and other fields that the easy and mass production of works similar to those created by humans could take away jobs from creators. There are also concerns that it is often unclear what data was used for machine learning. We also need to consider who owns the copyright of AI-created music and how it should be managed.

Q: What is the music industry in Japan doing to address these issues?

A: In January, nine music-related organizations in Japan concerned about generative AI, including the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, established a council to discuss and propose the harmonious use of the technology. Under the current Copyright Act, permission from the rights holders is generally not required if machine learning is done during the development of AI software, which prevents the rights holder from reflecting their intentions. The group is proposing efforts to improve this situation. As the Agency for Cultural Affairs and other bodies continue discussions on AI and copyright, there are also calls from music organizations for legal amendments.

(Japanese original by Ryotaro Nishimoto, Cultural News Department)