AFM Demands AI Safeguards From Major Labels — SkimNews
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- AFM launched its "Human Made, Human Paid" advocacy campaign Tuesday ahead of restarting Sound Recording Labor Agreement (SRLA) negotiations in November, covering more than 80,000 professional musicians nationwide.
- AFM's demands target Universal Music Group, Sony, Warner, and Hollywood Records (Disney) for contract language giving musicians the right to approve or refuse AI training of their catalogs, transparent credit, and payment both for AI use and for any label licensing deals.
- AFM International President Tino Gagliardi said labels "cannot pocket profits built on the backs of human artistry while cutting working musicians out of the equation," framing the fight around "consent, credit, and compensation."
- Will Wells, an AFM member and composer who worked on Netflix's "Emily in Paris," called the prospect of music intellectual property being "exploited" without consent "chilling," but stressed the union is "pro-human creators," not opposed to technological progress.
- The gap AFM is targeting stems from a lack of compensation frameworks: a March Rolling Stone report said "the train has left the station" on AI in music production while labels license catalogs for AI development without cutting artists in on the revenue.
- Wells cast the SRLA demands as protecting music as a "viable career path," saying the union wants "more music in the world, not less."
Why it matters: With AFM's 80,000+ members and the four biggest label groups converging at the November SRLA bargaining table, the talks represent the first real chance to write AI consent, credit, and compensation rules into U.S. recorded-music contracts — or leave the field undefined while labels continue licensing catalogs for AI.
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