Perspectives on roles and rewards in new cocreative systems for music-making

Abstract

Controversy and ethical concerns regarding data sourcing, copyright, and remuneration have emerged in relation to the application of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to creative tasks in writing, art, and music. The systems in which the AI tools are embedded lack sufficient evidence of thought or documentation regarding the roles and rewards for musicians (as data creators), model preppers, and model developers. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an examination of the essential components of such systems: who are the actors, how should they interact with one another, and how should they be charged/rewarded for their actions? Via (1) a user study involving ten professional producers, songwriters, and composers, and (2) reflections on our own careers as professional musicians, we find that with the exception of one system under consideration, called Cocreate, existing systems de-emphasize or disregard the role of a musician as data creator, but that this type of user can and should be rewarded for contributions to this new breed of music-making systems. An outcome of this paper is that we now have a blueprint via which we can bridge technology and musical creativity in ways that are more transparent and fair, while continuing to monitor perspectives of users and contributors.