Reflections on the Financial and Ethical Implications of Music Generated by Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This work analyses the financial and ethical implications of music generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI). The primary concern of this work relates to issues of employment in the music industry challenged by AI technologies. A theoretical model of the ‘music ecosystem’ (containing philosophical contributions including ANT, UN SDGs and posthumanities) was developed to address this concern and to study the complex engagement with AI technologies among different actors. AI music actors comprise three sectors: the academy, transnational corporations, and start-up companies. The interlinked economic consequences of the creation and exploitation of intellectual property (IP) by these sectors on the music ecosystem were examined. To explore the legal complexities offered by AI music products and services, concepts of legal personhood for AI, the status of non-human actors and relevant legal cases were presented. It led to an observation that music copyright is not currently capable of responding to the financial implications of AI. The work argues, instead, an equitable approach can only occur through an ethical response from stakeholders of the music ecosystem. To examine this ethical imperative, the thesis explored and built a commonality of socalled ‘human-centred’ ethical principles communicated in the major reports on AI development (including the UN’s, EU’s and IEE’s). A case study of an AI music start-up then showed how real-world frameworks can broker the financial and ethical entanglements of AI in an equitable and pragmatic context. The thesis concludes that a globally recognised and legislatively enforceable AI ‘music mark’ can be an important part of actionable proposals that support a sustainable music ecosystem for all its human and non-human members.