Here is an admission. As much as I enjoy listening to the music quiz show Counterpoint, expertly hosted by Paul Gamb- accini, most of the questions are out of my comfort zone.
One cannot but be aware of the enormous contribution which British artistes, songwriters, composers, producers and shows such as X Factor make to the UK’s booming creative sector.
If there is any regret, it is that as listed companies, our recording, retailing and royalty funds – EMI, HMV and most recently Hipgnosis – have not covered themselves in glory. Nevertheless, the sector generates £4billion of exports, according to the industry’s latest report, and contributed £6.7billion in gross value added to the economy.
There are good things happening. Songster superstar Taylor Swift has chosen to use a revived EMI label to distribute much of her output. Amid a vinyl boom, HMV is back on Oxford Street in London’s West End. The Brit School in Croydon, home to Adele and others, is branching out with a second home in Bradford as the nation levels up.
Amid the optimism, there are huge threats on the horizon. It took the music industry many years to combat piracy and enforce copyright for performers, writers, producers and record labels. The biggest online platforms Spotify, Apple et al pay their dues and the creators of music are duly rewarded for downloads.
Under pressure: Record companies are not averse to using new technology to enhance current recordings and to revive long forgotten catalogues
Upstart Tik Tok, as well as distorting the minds of young people with samizdat political propaganda, is now challenging the economics of Tin Pan Alley by refusing to pay its fees.
British impresario Lucian Grainge, chief executive of the world’s biggest music group Universal, is throwing down the gauntlet. He is removing the music and videos of hundreds of artists, including megastars Taylor Swift, Abba and Harry Styles from Tik Tok, unleashing a social media storm. His firm Universal Music Group let loose a tirade against Tik Tok, accusing the platform of bullying and intimidation.
One suspects that Tik Tok users are unaware that the outlet is controlled by Beijing-based ByteDance and lacks democratic and corporate accountability.
As serious is the incursion of AI and Rishi Sunak’s government’s willingness to lie down in front of the Silicon Valley steamroller. Record companies are not averse to using new technology to enhance current recordings and to revive long forgotten catalogues. The Beatles’ remastered recording Now And Then, which flew off the racks, could not have been achieved without AI.
In the wrong hands, fakers can use AI to drive a coach and horses through copyright and artistry by imitating songs, music and voices, robbing creative livelihoods and national income. The music industry is determined to see embedded royalty, recording and songsters video rights enforced.
Under pressure from big tech, the Government is minded to give AI proponents a free ride. Current proposals are for an opt-in strategy. Performers and producers – ranging from the biggest stars to rock groups honing their skills in the local pub or classical musicians – will be required to obtain a licence to protect their AI. Any material which has not opted-in will be open season for copying, distortion or simple theft. The approach would put all the onus on performers to wrap themselves in bureaucracy and expense, to protect what is already theirs.
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer is thought to be sympathetic to the objections of Britain’s tune makers. It is all seen differently on Downing Street.
Last year, Microsoft was regarded as a public enemy when the company’s president Brad Smith took to the airwaves to declare a decision by the Competition and Markets Authority to block a takeover of gaming firm Activision Blizzard as the ‘darkest day’ for business in the UK for four decades. Just a few months later, Microsoft’s boss Satya Nadella, after a flying visit, pledged to invest £2.5billion in an AI facility in the UK. Similarly, Alphabet is planning to add an £800m data centre to its already substantial commitment to a campus at Kings Cross in London.
Silicon Valley has been campaigning against legal or copyright restrictions on AI which interferes with freedom of access to entertainment material on their platforms. Sunak, in thrall to big tech and its investment in the UK, is listening. The consequences for the nation’s music output, creativity and vision could potentially be calamitous.
