YouTube’s AI Collaboration Principles for Music Industry

On August 21, YouTube released its “principles” for collaborating with music industry players on artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

In a recent blog post, the CEO of YouTube, Neal Mohan, stated that now is a crucial moment to “boldly embrace this technology with a continued commitment to responsibility.”

Mohan stated that he has been in close contact with partners in the music industry, including Universal Music, in order to create a framework with three main AI-related principles in order to achieve “common goals.”

“These three fundamental AI principles serve to enhance music’s unique creative expression while also protecting music artists and the integrity of their work.”

Principles include appropriate protections for artists that “unlock opportunities” for music industry partners and scaling content policies to meet the “challenges of AI.”

YouTube announced, as part of its first principle, that it will introduce a new “Music AI Incubator” to inform its approach to working with AI.

The incubator will collaborate with “some of the music industry’s most innovative artists, songwriters, and producers.”

Among them are the composer Max Richter and the singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash. Mohan concluded by stating that he is “extremely enthusiastic” about the opportunities presented by AI to “supercharge creativity” worldwide.

Although the CEO of YouTube expressed enthusiasm and praise for the emerging technology, he also stated that AI will not supplant human creativity.

“AI will never replace human creativity because it will always lack the essential spark that drives the most talented artists to do their best work, which is intention.”

In an interview, the CEO of the Grammys echoed this sentiment, stating that there is “something about the human experience and the emotion and the heart that comes from what we do and what we contribute to the music that I don’t think can be replicated just yet.”

In July, the Grammys clarified their rules by stating that music containing AI components is eligible for an award, depending on the use of the technology and the category in which it is nominated.

Universal Music Group announced on August 9 that it is in negotiations with Google regarding a partnership to combat AI deep fakes.