Measures to support Europe’s music industry

Subject: Measures to support Europe’s music industry

With more than two million workers, the music industry is the third largest employer in the creative sector and makes a considerable contribution to the European economy.

However, serious concerns abound as to whether artists are fairly paid and the sector is sufficiently diverse and inclusive.

A key issue in this regard is the regulation of generative artificial intelligence (AI): the technology puts the future of the industry in jeopardy, particularly local and regional production companies (mainly SMEs), as they are more vulnerable to the negative impact of AI output.

In the light of the above:

1. What action does the Commission intend to take to shield the music industry from the threat of AI?

2. How does it intend to support the music production sector, particularly local musical traditions across Europe?

Submitted:15.3.2024

Answer given by Mr Breton on behalf of the European Commission

(12 June 2024)

The Commission considers that Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents for the music industry both opportunities and challenges, these include how authors and performers can be protected against the unauthorised use of their works or other subject matter for the training of AI models as well as how AI-generated music may affect the sector.

Under EU copyright law (1), right holders can reserve their rights, thus preventing their works from being used for text and data mining, including in the context of AI development.

The obligation to respect such rights-reservation will be supported by the AI Act (2). Under the AI Act, general-purpose AI model providers must put in place a policy to respect EU copyright law and make publicly available a sufficiently detailed summary of the data used for training. As for AI generated content, the AI Act will increase transparency in relation to synthetic content.

The Commission supports the music sector through its initiative ‘Music Moves Europe’ (3), which assists the sector’s capacity to embrace the digital transition, and the promotion of European music diversity and inclusion.

The impact of AI on the music ecosystem is being addressed through the structured dialogue the Commission is holding with the music sector.

The latest instance of this dialogue was the EU Conference on music held in Brussels in February 2024, which featured sessions on AI, diversity, and remuneration.

Lastly, the Commission has launched a study on an important matter in this context: the discoverability of European cultural content online, including in the music sector.

It will investigate the impact of current curation practices and algorithmic recommendations on exposure to diverse content with the aim of promoting cultural diversity online.

1 ∙ ⸱ Directive (EU) 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market and

amending Directives 96/9/EC and 2001/29/EC, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/790/oj 2 ∙ ⸱ The AI Act, a regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence and amending Regulations (EC) No 300/2008, (EU) No 167/2013, (EU) No 168/2013, (EU) 2018/858, (EU) 2018/1139 and (EU) 2019/2144 and Directives 2014/90/EU, (EU) 2016/797 and (EU) 2020/1828, was formally adopted by the European Council on 21 May 2024. The AI Act will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and it will enter into force 20 days later. The AI Act puts emphasis on the importance of trust, transparency and accountability when dealing with new technologies while also ensuring that this technology can flourish in the EU and boost European innovation. 3 ∙ ⸱

More information is available at: https://culture.ec.europa.eu/cultural-and-creative-sectors/music/music-moves-europe