This week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ issued a Spring Statement with the aim to kickstart economic growth, protect working people and keep Britain safe.
As a part of the statement, the Chancellor confirmed the creation of a £3.25 billion Transformation Fund to support the fundamental reform of public services, seize the opportunities of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), and transform frontline delivery to release savings for taxpayers over the long-term.
In response to the statement UK Music CEO Tom Kiehl has voiced his concerns about the lack of any response as to the ramifications AI will have on the music industry if left unchecked:
“The Chancellor has talked again about her strategy for economic growth and some of the potential benefits of Artificial Intelligence,” he said. “However, while we share the ambition to realise benefits from AI there was nothing in her statement about the huge damage that would be caused to the music industry by Government plans to give AI firms unfettered access to music under sweeping changes to copyright law. The proposals would be a disaster for the UK’s £7.6 billion music industry.
“We need an urgent rethink from the Government and the Chancellor over those plans which would allow firms to train their AI models on British music without having to pay or seek permission from the people who created the work and own the rights.
“The Government has previously recognised the importance of the creative industries as a key ‘growth-driving’ pillar with an aim to grow the sector by £50 billion by 2030.
“If we are to sustain the growth we all want to see in the music industry, we need to reverse the huge decline in music education. We need the Government to live up to its promise to hire more teachers by ensuring that we get hundreds more music teachers in our schools.
“As Ed Sheeran recognised recently with his plea to the Government about music education, we need major improvements to music education to ensure we can nurture the talent pipeline on which the industry relies to create jobs and produce the stars of the future.
“We will continue to work with Government ahead of its Spending Review and Industrial Strategy in June to ensure the voice of the music industry is heard when it comes to getting more help for music companies, venues, rehearsal spaces and recording studios, as well as all the artists and creators, that make up our world-leading sector.”