Are AI Music Tools A New Instrument?
Host Jason Michael Perry sits down with Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange, to discuss what happens to a very human business when a machine can make the whole song, and who gets paid when it does.
AI-generated tracks are now charting on Billboard and topping streaming charts, and 97% of listeners couldn’t tell them from human music. Jason and Michael unpack where “AI-assisted” ends and “AI-generated” begins, why Sweden pulled a number one song off its official chart, and how an AI artist landed a $3 million record deal. They also get into what you own when you make a song with a tool like Suno, why US copyright law requires a human author, and how SoundExchange decides who gets a royalty check. From there, they look at the licensing deals and lawsuits between AI music companies, labels, and artists, and what the industry might look like in the years ahead.
Podcast Notes & Links:
- Rubberz” by Fenix Flexin
- “Jag vet, du är inte min” by Jacub
- “How Was I Supposed to Know?” by Xania Monet.
- SoundExchange’s RoyalTeas series, hosted by Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men
- Michael Huppe’s music law casebook (Georgetown)
- SoundExchange — Who We Are
- Music Business Worldwide — AI track blocked from Sweden’s charts
- Suno — Rights & Ownership
- Forbes — Launch, Train, Settle
- Thoughts on Tech & Things: AI and IP with Justin Pierce episode
- PerryLabs – Start with an AI Assessment
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Credits
Thanks to the team at WYPR, our producer Sam Bermas-Dawes, and Myrna Martinez, Head of Operations and Marketing at PerryLabs.