UMAW's Statement on Gen AI Music and Streaming Platforms

As the music industry contends with the arrival of Generative AI (GenAI) music — music fully created by AI systems trained, without consent, on preexisting work — UMAW calls on all sectors of the industry to safeguard and properly compensate human labor. To prioritize human-made music, we demand:

• GenAI music must be labeled by every level of the industry. We call on software developers, studios, labels, distributors, retailers, and all other actors to clearly and properly mark GenAI recordings. Labeling is a basic obligation for everyone working with GenAI music.

• Streaming platforms must not accept GenAI tracks. We call on streaming platforms to reject GenAI music outright

• Human artists must be paid fairly for our labor. We call on Congress to pass the Living Wage for Musicians Act to regulate streaming platforms and require direct payment to human recording artists—and only human recording artists—for use of the music we create.

To cosign the statement and endorse these three demands: