Sony Music, the music publisher behind top musicians such as Beyoncé, Harry Styles and Doja Cat, is making it clear that tech companies are not allowed to train AI models using its music – days after two leading companies announced their AI cloud.
^{Beyoncé accepts the Innovator Award at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty Images)}

In a first letter from Bloomberg, NBC News AND BBC, Sony Music asked more than 700 companies to reveal whether and how they used its songs to train AI. Sony Music wants to know if these companies have used even part of a song in its catalog without permission.

The letter is an attempt by Sony Music to protect intellectual property, including album cover art and the lyrics within each song.

The letter says that using the company's music without permission means that it and its artists were not compensated or even aware that their work was being used in AI.

Intellectual property has been a central issue across industries, with AI taking center stage.

Connected: Billie Eilish, Elvis Costello, Jon Bon Jovi and other artists get swept up in the 'predatory' and 'disastrous' use of AI in the music industry

Last month, more than 200 musicians and songwriters, including Billie Eilish and Katy Perry, signed a letter calling out “some of the biggest and most powerful companies” for using their work to train AI models without permission.

Tech companies have simultaneously made significant strides in music AI. Google announced on Tuesday that it would offer musicians a host of AI tools designed specifically for them, and OpenAI's Sora created his first music video two weeks ago.

Both companies have not publicly disclosed the exact sources of data that went into their AI models.

Connected: OpenAI reportedly used more than a million hours of YouTube videos to train its latest AI model

Sony Music has managed to increase revenue even with AI on the scene. On Tuesday, Sony reported that Sony Music's revenue was $11.05 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31 — a 16.9% increase from the previous year. The company attributed the increase higher income from streaming subscriptions like Spotify.

IN last quarter of 2023Sony Music's biggest projects were SZA's OSsTravis Scott's utopiaand Rod Wave's NOSTALGIA. These three albums generated the most global revenue for the company in that quarter.