Believe and TuneCore release global AI survey for independent artists

TuneCore conducted a survey of nearly 1 600 self-releasing artists from more than 10 countries, with 35% of respondents identifying as pop artists, 29% as hip hop artists, 29% as rock artists and 26% as electronic artists.

The survey revealed that AI is being rapidly adopted by independent artists, with 50% of respondents aware of its usage. About 27% of artists have already used AI music tools. Additionally, artists are particularly interested in using AI during the creative process and for marketing purposes to grow their fanbase, while 50% of respondents are open to using their music for machine learning but emphasise the importance of a responsible approach to AI.

TuneCore claims to be the first amongst self-releasing digital music platforms to enter the AI space, partnering with Canadian musician Grimes’ Elf.tech software for AI-powered music distribution, which allows artists to distribute music using Grimes’ vocals through CreateSafe’s proprietary AI technology for a 50/50 revenue share via TuneCore’s splits remuneration programme for multiple collaborators.

“Generative AI and AI will open a new age of creativity and discovery, and transform in a positive manner every aspect of our partnerships with artists and the way we partner with digital music services,” Believe founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie said. “This is why it is essential that our strategy as a company is aligned with that of our artists: that of a responsible approach to AI and to the exciting opportunities and future use cases that we will develop as a core part of our mission to serve all artists, at each stage of their career, with respect, fairness, expertise and transparency. These fundamental values have defined the four responsibility principles that we will use to assess each AI and generative AI opportunity: consent, control, compensation and transparency.”

TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson added: “As AI continues to be a conversation topic across creative industries, we sought to engage directly with independent artists to determine their awareness of AI and how they’re most interested in engaging with it. TuneCore’s main priorities lie in the interests of our artists, so the responses to this survey will help us enable them to utilise AI on our platform with consent, control, transparency and fair monetary compensation.”

In June, TuneCore joined several digital music companies and popular digital service providers in a historic alliance called Music Fights Fraud to combat streaming fraud and protect legitimate music creators from revenue loss. Speaking about the task force, Gleeson noted that her outfit was joining other leading digital distributors and streaming platforms to “create a fairer streaming landscape for all artists.”

The full report is available for download here.