From Music Business Worldwide · · 1m 50s
Music’s Next Licensing Failure
AI games could erase music’s licensing model as platforms shift power.
In brief
AI games could erase music’s licensing model as platforms shift power. Music’s licensing model faces collapse as AI tools create royalty-free music without traditional rights structures. Originally reported by Music Business Worldwide.
2014 Radio Station Idea
In 2014, I tried to create a fictional radio station for Grand Theft Auto V using The Prodigy’s song.
“Back in 2014, I tried to take over a radio station.”
Tech Barrier Gone
The tech wasn’t ready then, but now AI tools like GPT-6 Astra can build playable games from prompts.
“The barrier I hit in 2014 is gone. Not lowered, gone.”
Astra and Game Tools
OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra shipped in September, with tools like Summer Engine and Rosebud generating playable games.
“OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra shipped in the first days of September”
Music in Generated Games
AI can generate soundtracks for games without human musicians, making royalty-free music the default.
“The default is already synthetic. Real music isn’t losing this fight; it hasn’t been invited to it.”
Twitch Problem
Twitch still faces unlicensed music takedowns despite 240 million monthly users and 7 million streamers.
“The 2014 takedown problem I mentioned still isn. t properly solved, on a platform with an estimated 240 million monthly users and roughly 7 million people streaming to them.”
Licensing Model Shift
The industry’s 20-year model of outsourcing product development to those who can afford lawsuits is no longer fit for purpose.
“The model we’ve quietly relied on for 20 years, outsourcing product development to whoever can afford to be sued, is no longer fit for purpose.”
New Licensing Needs
Music needs machine-readable licenses for adaptive, stemmed, mood-tagged tracks that respond to player actions.
“Games need adaptive, stemmed, mood- and tempo-tagged music that responds to what a player does, not a flat stereo master.”
Provenance and Measurement
Songs must remain identifiable and track usage to ensure payments without human intervention.
“Provenance: the song, the recording, and the participating creators have to remain identifiable wherever the audio ends up, so that payment can route automatically.”
Reactional Music Grant
Reactional Music won a €2.5 million European Innovation Council grant to build rights infrastructure for games.
“Reactional Music won a EUR €2.5 million European Innovation Council grant this summer”
Portable Artist Presence
The industry needs a portable artist presence that carries rights and commerce across generated worlds.
“a portable, persistent, monetizable artist presence that drops into any generated world carrying its rights, its commerce, and its identity with it”
Past Mistakes
The industry let DSPs take ownership of fan relationships and user-generated video build economies without charging.
“We let the dsp take ownership of the fan relationship. We let the social platforms set the terms of promotion, then spent a decade renting our own audiences back.”
The Stakes
The music business must build infrastructure for generative games or become a licensor three years after the party starts.
“The music business can be the infrastructure of the generative game era: the cleared catalog, the provenance, the counting layer, the artist presence that ships as standard inside every engine.”
The Future
The tech is ready for a new licensing model, but the industry must act now to avoid being left behind.
“The only thing missing is us.”
The short version
Music’s licensing model faces collapse as AI tools create royalty-free music without traditional rights structures.
