MusicFirst Joins AI For Music
As part of all of the research that I’ve been doing for my AI in the Music Classroom online course - currently being run through the MusicFirst Summer Teacher Academy - I ran across a wonderful initiative called AI For Music, spearheaded by Roland and Universal Music Group. This initiative has created a set of seven core principles that help “establish a guideline for the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in music. By adopting these principles, companies and organizations commit to protecting the vital contributions of human creativity and to the responsible development and application of artificial intelligence for music creation.” As a company that lives exclusively in the education space, I felt that it was extremely important to support this very important cause. I am thrilled to say that MusicFirst is one of a handful of companies that are official supporters of these principles. I hope that my competitors do the same.
These are the seven principles:
1. We believe music is central to humanity. Enjoying and creating music is integral to our health, well-being, and happiness. Music provides a human connection to each other and the world around us and is deeply personal.
2. We believe humanity and music are inseparable, and music with true meaning cannot exist without the direct creative contributions of people.
3. From acoustic to electronic instruments, we believe that technology has long supported human artistic expression, and applied sustainably, AI will amplify human creativity.
4. We believe that human-created works must be respected and protected, and they uniquely merit copyright protections. The use of copyrighted works – and use of the music artists’ name/image/likeness/voice by others – must be authorized in advance of the use and music artists should be given recognition for their contribution.
5. We believe transparency is essential to responsible and trustworthy use of AI. In order to establish and maintain trust across all stakeholders, from fans to artists, AI-powered creative platforms and policies must prioritize record keeping and disclosure while shining a light on those who create.
6. We believe the perspectives of music artists, songwriters, and other creators must be sought after and respected as AI-powered creative experiences are imagined, strategized, planned, and implemented.
7. We are proud to help bring music to life. Together, through the musical instruments we produce, the artists and songwriters we represent, and the music education programs we support, we inspire and enable creativity.
These seven principles are really important to music making, as well as music teaching. I think that teachers should show these principles to their students and discuss them. What do they think? After all, it is their future we are talking about here. They should also serve as a roadmap for them when it comes to deciding which technologies they utilize in their own music making.
I am proud to have MusicFirst join this initiative as these principles stand for everything that we do, as well as our approach to the integration of AI into the MusicFirst Classroom, as well as the software that we offer from our many partners. Other companies that have signed on include, NAMM, the MIDI Association, Adam Audio, BandLab, Boss, Cakewalk, DW, Focusrite, Native Instruments, Novation, Oberheim, Squential, Splice, and MANY more. Kudos to Roland and Universal Music Group for founding this initiative. Proud to be aboard!