UK Music chief warns of “catastrophic” impact of allowing AI to steal music creators’ work

UK Music chief executive Tom Kiehl has spoken out about Government plans to let tech giants shun copyright rules and train their artificial intelligence systems on the work of UK music creators.

The hugely controversial change would allow AI firms to plunder music, images and text to train their models without paying music creators or even seeking their permission.

Under the plans, music creators would be forced to face an administrative nightmare of having to “opt out” of allowing their work to be used as part of the training of AI models.

In a reference to the furore over the use of music to train AI bots, the plan has already been labelled “The Great Train Robbery” by music industry insiders.

Kiehl said, “These proposals would be catastrophic for our world-leading creative industries. The opt-out system being put forward prioritises AI firms over human creativity, enabling big tech firms to effectively steal the work of music creators without their consent and without paying them.

“This would deliver a devastating blow to the entire industry which contributes £7.6 billion to our economy and supports 216,000 jobs in the UK.

“The proposed changes could drastically impact the next generation of emerging UK talent to take on the mantle of stars like Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, who have already warned about the damage these changes could wreak.

“Our creative industries are united against these deeply damaging proposals to let AI bots plunder the work of the UK’s creative talent. We want to be part of the Government’s growth strategy, yet this plan to tear up our existing copyright rules would allow that growth and value to be freely siphoned away to tech giants.

“Tech giants talk about training their systems on the work that have been created through the blood, sweat and tears of UK artists as though it’s a harmless enterprise when in reality it amounts to the Great Train Robbery.”

In a Commons debate earlier this month, cross-party MPs also widely condemned the Government’s plans to allow big tech firms to train their AI systems on work stolen from UK creators.

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music co-chair and SNP MP Pete Wishart said: “To develop and thrive, our artists need the best possible conditions and political environment, and we have delivered that over the decades. That is why we lead the world when it comes to our contribution to the creative industries, and why we make such massive gross value added in every single sector in which we are predominant.

“Our leading artists give us a soft power that is the envy of the world, and we must not do anything that threatens our ability to retain it. We have a gold standard IP rights framework enshrined in UK law. We have a copyright regime that protects our artists, and ensures that their wonderful works are properly recognised and that they are remunerated for the products of their imagination.”

He continued: “There is an idea that somehow our copyright laws are broken. They are not broken at all; our copyright laws work perfectly well. The only people who have an issue with our copyright laws are those running the AI tech giants, who find that such laws get in the way of what they want to do and achieve.

“Their intention and ambition is to ingest our creative heritage, and to scrape the world for the last bit of human imagination and creative content. That is what has created difficulties and confusion about our copyright regime. There is nothing wrong with our laws. They are really good and the envy of so many, and they have served us well.”

Labour MP Anneliese Midgley added: “Our musicians will once again lose out if AI copyright laws are not handled correctly. Big tech companies should not be able to generate and profit from music without permission or payment. How can we justify taking money away from British musicians and handing it to tech firms for free? That does not support growth; it undermines it.

“In reality, many household names – artists whose music we all know, who have had top 10 hits and whose posters once adorned our walls – are struggling. New musicians can barely get a foot in the door and are often not paid for years. Songs are played more than ever, yet songwriters see less of the money. Someone is getting paid, but not the people who create the music.

“Unless they are at the very top, making a good living as a musician in this country is becoming nearly impossible. Even those who can sell out venues of a couple of thousand people across our towns and cities are barely scraping by. The balance is completely off, but we, in this place, have the power to help to change that. Unlike our European counterparts, in this country we have failed to introduce proper protections for creators’ pay over the past decade.

“As the party of labour, with a commitment to make work pay, this Government should ensure that artists, songwriters and musicians are fairly paid for their work and protected from exploitation by faceless tech companies. AI can be a powerful tool, transforming industries like healthcare and science by reducing admin burdens and freeing up skilled professionals. But AI that tokenises the toil of artists and spits out soulless imitations does not support human creativity or make it more productive. No one has ever loved a song because of how efficiently it was written.

“As James Oppenheim wrote in his 1911 poem: Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses. If work is our bread, then music is our roses.”

Liberal Democrat Science and Technology spokesperson Victoria Collins said: “We have listened to the evidence and we have said what our view is, which is that we do not support the opt out. Our creatives are one of the UK’s greatest exports, which is why we support them. Our world leaders in this area should never be asked to give up their existing rights.”

Plaid Cymru MP Ann Davies furthered: “Wales’s creative industry is a cornerstone of our culture and economy. It generated £3.8 billion in the last financial year – 5.3% of our GDP – and much of that success relies on strong copyright protections. Creatives must be paid when their work is used, including for AI training. Too often creative data is being scraped without permission, undermining livelihoods.”