Jadakiss, Nicki Minaj, And More Sign Letter Condemning AI In Music

Hundreds of celebrity musicians are taking a stance against music created by artificial intelligence (AI). On Monday (April 1), the Artists Rights Alliance (ARA) released an open letter urging various platforms across the industry to stop using AI to “infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.”

“When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music, and our livelihoods,” the memo explains, sending the message to AI developers, technology companies, and digital music services. The letter also expresses concerns over the dangers of AI and how it impacts creators.

“Some of the biggest and most powerful companies are, without permission, using our work to train AI models,” the note details.

“These efforts are directly aimed at replacing the work of human artists with massive quantities of AI-created ‘sounds’ and ‘images’ that substantially dilute the royalty pools that are paid out to artist. For many working musicians, artists, and songwriters who are just trying to make ends meet, this would be catastrophic.”

Signed by the likes of Nicki Minaj, Jadakiss, Metro Boomin, Arya Starr, Billie Eillish, Benny The Butcher, Hit-Boy, Stevie Wonder, Doechii, and more, the demand calls on the companies to “pledge that they will not develop or deploy AI music-generation technology, content, or tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny us fair compensation for our work.”

The ARA is a non-profit group that aims to fight for a healthy creative economy and fair treatment for all creators in the digital world.

“The unethical use of generative AI to replace human artists will devalue the entire music ecosystem—for artists and fans alike,” Jen Jacobsen, Executive Director of the ARA, explained to Variety.

In the past, Ice Cube, Young Guru, and others have spoken out against using AI in music. Still, some acts, like Timbaland and Beanie Siegal, have embraced the technology for different reasons. Last year, Universal Music Group requested that music streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music block companies using music to train AI.

“We have a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music and to stop platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators,” read a statement issued by UMG. “We expect our platform partners will want to prevent their services from being used in ways that harm artists.”

Read the full letter penned by the ARA here.