Is AI the Best Or Worst Thing To Happen To The Australian Music Industry?

A recent report by APRA AMCOS has revealed the potential impact of AI on musicians and producers across Australia and New Zealand. 

It has sparked a debate on whether this technological advancement will harm or enhance the creative process.

The report, which surveyed thousands of musicians, suggests that AI could slash over $500 million from the revenue of music creators by 2028.

What is AI doing to the Australian music industry?

On today’s The Briefing, we talked to Australian singer-songwriters Josh Pyke and Sophie Payton on the promise and threat of AI for Australian music.

Pyke said the report’s findings highlight the challenges that AI presents, particularly in terms of copyright and the potential devaluation of human creativity. However, the same report also indicates that more than half of the surveyed musicians believe AI can aid the creative process.

“I think the horse is bolted in the sense that people are going to continue to create this technology and certainly people are going to continue to use it,” Pyke said. 

He noted that the study showed a huge proportion of creatives are interested in using AI to help them in the creative process.

Payton, who has experimented with AI in her music-making process, sees potential in the technology. 

She believed AI could serve as a tool to enhance creativity but also raised concerns about the ethical implications of AI models being trained on artists’ work without permission.

“The most frightening thing about AI for an artist is theft of intellectual property. So that is kind of what keeps me and most artists up at night,” Payton said. 

“When we think about AI, the idea that someone’s going to type into a computer, ‘hey, I want to make a song like Gordi,’ and then in three minutes, they’ve done it.”

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