#StandWithSongwriters and ACT NOW to protect creators’ rights and compensation for HUMAN creativity by asking your representative to put humans first and mandate tracking and appropriate licensing of AI-generated music that uses original music copyrighted by humans: https://bit.ly/3LuwH6q
And read this if you want inspiration to do so: https://bit.ly/3LwXz5L
It's a Billboard guest column by Paul Williams, President & Chairman of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Board, one of the greatest songwriter of our times, a fine human being all around, and my top boss during the golden times I had working at ASCAP, which was and still is a family as full of meaning as it is of music.
I am not a songwriter by trade but love music, play it, and support its creation and performance every chance I get. After working at a performance rights organization, music never sounded so sweet. At the same time, I could never again unhear the reality - dollars and cents flapping and clinging around everywhere but into the hands of the writers. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Long gone are my youthful and, frankly, ignorant days when I criticized rock stars for being whiny during the free love days of Napster. Back then, I thought, why is METALLICA begrudging me the freedom to burn a mix onto a generic Staples brand CD on my roommate's desktop in the dorms (I went to college 2000-2004)?
But what I learned at ASCAP is that there are so many other things interrupting the stream that runs from music creators to when it reaches our ears and becomes the soundtrack to our lives - legislations, gigantic tech corporations, and the high barrier to mainstream consumer awareness.
This isn't about fighting AI (it's already been here), progress, or affordability of music for consumers. It IS about fairly compensating the ultimate laborers whose work has universal positive impact and not being slow and lazy and saying it's impossible. If we can make the technologies, civilization should be able to manage all its implications - good and bad. If not, it means that our evolution is outpaced by our own inventions and we're going to go extinct at the hands of robots and I'm not trying to be radical in saying this, either.
Key excerpts from Paul Williams's column:
"Emerging technologies – whether it be streaming or AI – have always presented our industry both challenges and opportunities. But in every instance, we as songwriters are often the first to feel the effects when technology outpaces the law."
"Just because AI requires a high volume of inputs, that does not mean it cannot be licensed or deserves an exception under the law. Just as we’ve approached the streaming market, we believe the opportunities presented by AI can be realized in the free market. To do so, we need lawmakers to stand with songwriters and not give big tech and AI companies a free ride with government-mandated licenses for AI."
Good luck over in D.C., ASCAP - give 'em hell!
At ASCAP, we put music creators first in everything we do. 👊 Read ASCAP President & Chairman of the Board Paul Williams' Billboard guest column about protecting songwriters in the age of AI here: https://bit.ly/3LwXz5L
Keep Bringing People Together Through The Power Of Music
2wThe Recording Academy Thank you for accepting me and Worldstrings Promotion as a New Member of the Class of 2024. I received the invitation email 2 days ago and look very much forward to an inspiring and productive mutually beneficial relationship. 🤟😎