Jimmy Barnes, Missy Higgins, Bernard Fanning voice concerns over AI in music

Leading musicians including Jimmy Barnes, Missy Higgins and Bernard Fanning have lent their voices to a report warning of the potentially devastating impact of generative AI on their industry.

The AI and Music Survey report, published today by Australia’s music rights organisation, estimates that by 2028, the cumulative total damage of AI on the music industry will be about $519 million.

Rock icon Jimmy Barnes lends his voice to the impact of AI on the music industry.Credit: Justin McManus

The survey found nearly a quarter – 23 per cent – of music creators’ revenues will be at risk due to generative AI. Of those questioned, 82 per cent were concerned it could lead to music creators being unable to make a living from their work.

The report by the Australasian Performing Right Association Limited and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society, known as APRA AMCOS, looked at revenue lines for music licences from retail, background music, streaming, digital advertising and projected what that loss would be for musicians.

In the largest study of its kind in the Australian/New Zealand region, more than 4200 songwriters, composers and music publishers were questioned about the impacts of new technology on their work.

Many were concerned about a lack of regulation and government policy around AI and music, particularly the need for credit, consent and fair remuneration for their work.

Missy Higgins performing at ICC Sydney last month.Credit: Louise Cui

Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes said music was fundamental to how we express ourselves and connect with each other.

“If we let something ‘artificial’ take it over – no matter how ‘intelligent’ that machine is supposed to be – then we will lose part of what it means to be human,” he said in the report.

While the federal government set up a Copyright and AI Reference Group late last year, and a Senate inquiry on it is due to report next month, APRA AMCOS chief executive Dean Ormston said more needed to be done.

“We urge the Australian and New Zealand governments to implement EU-style transparency guidelines on tech companies now to disclose the content that has been copied and used without permission to build AI platforms, with sanctions for non-disclosure. Without this, our industry is facing a very bleak future,” Ormston said.

Singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, who will be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame later this year, warned against blurring the lines between genuine emotions and a machine-generated version.

“It might be possible for ‘intelligence’ to be ‘artificial’, but most music is driven by the heart, not the head, and I don’t think artificial feelings can stir the soul,” she said.

Melbourne-born Tina Arena, who will perform later this year as part of the Victorian government’s Always Live program, said AI would fundamentally impact songwriting.

“Artificial intelligence is just that ... artificial. The beauty of human creation is the work of alchemy, not an algorithm,” she said.

Bernard Fanning at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena.Credit: Cybele Malinowski

Former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning, soon to tour as part of Fanning Dempsey National Park, said he felt the use of copyrighted music to train AI for use in composing, was neither legal nor moral.

“This goes against the very idea of composing something new,” he said, “and removes the humanity from the creation of art, which deletes its very purpose.”

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.