Received from: MU
Merged into composite C10
Congress calls on the TUC to lobby parliament to ensure musicians are fairly paid in relation to AI and music streaming.
The upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) bill is a historic opportunity to change copyright law and ensure musicians get a fair deal from both AI-generated music and music streaming.
In 2024–25, the Musicians’ Union and Council of Music Makers took part in government-convened negotiations with major labels for fair pay and contract terms. Despite intense government pressure, the major labels refused to pay a greater share of streaming revenue to musicians. Session, or backing, musicians still receive no streaming royalties and many featured artists are stuck on outdated royalty rates negotiated before streaming became the main way that people consume music.
Congress calls on the TUC to lobby Parliament to ensure that:
i. the AI Bill provides appropriate and proportionate remuneration for musicians from both AI-generated music and music streaming
ii. AI developers training on copyright works are required to report which works they trained on and that AI-generated works are appropriately labelled for consumers
iii. musicians are given the right to contract adjustment, which would allow old royalty rates to be increased to modern digital royalty rates
iv. featured artists, songwriters and composers can claim their rights back from record labels and music publishers after a certain period of time, like in the US.
Musicians’ Union