STIM, the Swedish collective management organization, announced that it has signed what is thought to be the first collective management license for AI music.
The deal, signed with the AI music company Songfox with support from the attribution technology company Sureel, will start small, using both compositions and recordings from a publisher that owns compositions as well as recording rights. But STIM’s ambitions are bigger: To create a framework for licensing AI companies to train their algorithms on music that STIM controls.
For the past few years, AI music has loomed as both threat and opportunity – a source of competition or revenue or both, which rightsholders will need to license. Some AI companies say that they do not need a license to train their algorithms – arguing that this is fair use in the U.S. – but others see licensing as desirable, advantageous, inevitable or some mix of those. But there has been considerable debate – mostly behind the scenes, in terms that aren’t obvious – about how these license deals might work and which rightsholders they will favor.
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