Sony Music bans use of its catalog for AI training

Sony Music has published a letter banning unauthorized use of its catalog by companies and developers to train any tools based on artificial intelligence (AI). The notification must be sent to streaming platforms worldwide, as well as to more than 700 companies specializing in artificial intelligence.

Sony Music is the second largest record company in the world. Owning record labels such as Epic, Legacy, RCA and Columbia, its catalog includes artists such as Roger Waters, Adele, Beyoncé, Djavan, Marisa Monte, Roberto Carlos, among others. The letter says that material in its catalog should only be used for AI training if there is permission or some form of compensation.

It’s worth noting that despite the warning, Sony Music is open to selling its material if it deems the bargain valid. Forbidden It prevents copyrighted melodies, lyrics and images of songs and artists from being used to produce new AI-based versions or train systems to create their own music.

Artificial intelligence companies warned by Sony Music include Microsoft, Google, OpenAI, Suno and Udio. It will also contact streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple to demand that they take measures to protect artists and composers from misuse of their works.

Another important point of Sony Music’s open decision is that the company recognizes the possibility that some material in its catalog has already been misused for the purpose of training, development or commercialization of artificial intelligence systems. Regarding this, the company asked: developers are providing details of the content used by the end of this week.