Ryan Leslie Hacked Artist Marketing With an SMS. Then Bad Bunny’s Team Called

With musicians including The Beatles and Drake experimenting with generative AI to mixed response, Demekhin observed two issues dominating music industry conversation around the technology’s application.

“One is there’s a perceived risk for artists that if you automate music creation, people are going to lose jobs and things like that. And I don’t necessarily believe that, because I’ve seen it. Artists don’t just deliver a song, they do many other things to connect with an audience, so I’m not worried about that.”

The other, he said was a legal and IP issue born from training deep learning models using existing content.

Pointing to instances of record labels like Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group (UMG) using gen AI platforms such as Suno and Udio, he said: “It’s very important for us as people who come from the creative world and the music world to protect the sanctity of copyright and the system that gets people paid.”

In light of UMG suing Chilli’s owner alleging copyright infringement over social media videos, Kirshbaum also said marketers would benefit from learning how to navigate the world of clearance and licensing as platforms evolve.

“When done right, music can move the needle and make your video more compelling, but you need to know the right way to do it,” he said.