Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s largest music rights holder, has called on the US Congress to enact laws protecting creators and other rights holders against copyright infringement by AI developers and users.

At a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on intellectual property on Wednesday (July 12), Jeffrey Harleston, General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Business and Legal Affairs at UMG, laid out three specific laws UMG would like to see enacted.

They include: A nationwide right of publicity law; the ability of copyright owners to see what has gone into the training of AI models; and the labeling of AI-generated content.

“Right of publicity” refers to an intellectual property right that protects against the unauthorized use of a person’s likeness, voice or other aspects of their identity.

The concept has become a hot topic now that AI apps have given users the ability to create music that convincingly imitates an artist’s music or vocals – as witnessed earlier this year with the viral “fake Drake” track. Both artists who were imitated on that song – Drake and The Weeknd – are signed to UMG labels.

“Deep fakes and or unauthorized recordings or visuals of artists generated by AI can lead to consumer confusion, unfair competition against the artist that actually was the original creator, market dilution and damage to the artist’s reputation, potentially irreparably harming their career,” Harleston told the senators on the subcommittee.

“An artist’s voice is often the most valuable part of their livelihood and public persona, and to steal it, no matter the means, is wrong.”

A number of initiatives have also been rolled out to promote artists and drive music discovery on the flagship TikTok app.

In May, TikTok launched a #NewMusic Search Hub, described as a “dedicated space for artists around the world to showcase their new songs and for fans to discover their next favorite track”.

According to TikTok, the term ‘New Music’, searched via the #NewMusic had already amassed over 18 billion views on the platform prior to the launch of this official new hub on the app.

In June, TikTok launched a new ‘new release’ feature that lets artists highlight a new track to fans for up to 14 days before release, and for 30 days after release. BTS became the first act to use the promotion tool.

Warner Chappell Music UK (WCM UK), the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has announced the promotion of Amber Davis to the role of Senior Vice President.

She will also continue in her position as WCM UK’s Head of A&R and will report into Shani Gonzales, WCM UK’s Managing Director.

In addition to continuing to oversee the A&R department, Davis will take on a broader role in shaping the publisher’s overall UK strategy.

Davis joined WCM UK in 2014 as Creative Director and was named Head of A&R in 2019.

Bertelsmann is bringing forward the long-planned leadership change at BMG, which was announced in January 2023.

Thomas Coesfeld, the current CFO of BMG, will now become the music company’s new CEO with effect from July 1, 2023.

He succeeds the founding CEO Hartwig Masuch, who, according to the company, is leaving BMG and Bertelsmann “at his own request and on the best of mutual terms”.

According to Bertelsmann, “due to his personal plans for the future, Hartwig Masuch had requested an earlier departure” from the company, but will remain associated with Bertelsmann in an advisory capacity until 2026.

The CEO changeover was originally scheduled for January 1, 2024.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), two performing rights organizations operating in the US, have teamed up to form a joint task force aimed at addressing fraudulent activities associated with musical works within the collective management ecosystem. 

The alliance builds upon the two parties’ SONGVIEW collaboration, launched in December 2020, to provide detailed copyright information, including reconciled ownership shares and administration shares of music licensed in the US.

The newly formed task force comprises a diverse team of copyright, technical, distribution, legal, business, and product experts from both ASCAP and BMI.

Music companies are jumping into the virtual-artist space in a big way.

The three majors – Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group – have all invested in virtual artist projects, but they are hardly the first.

The trend really began in Japan and Korea as far back as the 1990s, but back then, the technology was experimental, expensive and – maybe most importantly – audiences may not have been ready for virtual singers and bands, represented by cartoons or avatars and with no presence in the real world.

All that seems to be changing today, with social media sites often acting as incubators for a new generation of virtual artists.

Polar, created by TheSoul Publishing, boasts 1.9 million followers on TikTok. Lil Miquela, the brainchild of music producer Trevor McFedries and tech entrepreneur Sara DeCou, has 2.8 million Instagram followers.

But the phenomenon didn’t start with social media.

In fact, you can trace the history of virtual artists all the way back to the middle of the 20th Century, when Hollywood cartoon producers and comic book companies cashed in on the burgeoning rock music scene with bands like The Archies and the Grammy Award-winning Alvin and the Chipmunks.