The artistic community suffers unprecedented income damage. The misuse of AI, fueled by its unregulated exploitation, is leading to a loss of composure and perspective. The mistake of adopting a combative stance—"AI is the enemy; we must banish it from Art"—is being repeated. This extreme tendency is inspired by a narrative of an asymmetrical digital Armageddon, an uncontrollable machine developing superior intelligence and destroying culture. While this makes for a gripping sci-fi dystopia, reality is far more nuanced. AI should simply be another tool musicians must integrate into their toolkit. You don’t throw away a hammer because you hit your finger—you learn to wield it skillfully.

Cultural Sciences have developed tools, methodologies, and conducted in-depth research on the Creative Industries. Yet its conclusions circulate only within academic circles, failing to reach the artistic community, labour movements, or—most critically—policy implementation. This gap persists at a time when major tech companies are even willing to rewrite the "social contract" if it stands in the way of innovation. (Statement made by Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and CEO of Microsoft AI at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June 2024)

The law is lagging behind rapid advancements. Legislative initiatives so far have been hesitant, ambiguous, and don’t seem to measure up to the scale of the challenges. This is evident in the EU’s 2024/1689 Directive on Artificial Intelligence, which reflects certain priorities in a political landscape where investors have significant influence. Similarly, the U.S. Copyright Office concludes that "existing legal doctrines are adequate and appropriate to resolve questions of copyrightability”.

Generative AI is a manufacturing process, divorced from lived experience, expression, or creative identity. This ethical dimension is not immediately visible in the output, as audiences cannot discern the creator of a work. Thus, interim measures must ensure fair remuneration for artists whose works train AI systems. Parallel losses arise on the output side: displacement of musicians’ traditional revenue streams as AI-generated works compete with theirs. By 2028, an estimated 24% of creators’ income could be at risk, amounting to €22 billion in cumulative losses.

A fair and pragmatic approach would be extending private copy Levies: the expanded application of private copying compensation (Greek Law 2121/1993, Art. 18), adapting existing frameworks to this new frontier.

Artists' earnings from streaming remain a significant concern. The recorded music market is now clearly dominated by this form of music consumption, which accounts for 67% of the recording industry's revenue. Complex financial structures, longstanding contractual practices, and a lack of transparency all contribute to a situation where the average revenue per stream that artists receive from their labels can be as low as $0.003 per stream. Against this backdrop, an artist needs over 800,000 monthly streams to earn the equivalent of a $15/hour full-time wage.

According to industry leaders, streaming services primarily sell subscriptions and access, not music itself. As a result, music can be seen as an operational cost within these business models. The emergence of AI-generated music, which may not require traditional licensing fees, contributes to an increasing volume of "rights-free" music, thereby impacting the income of rights-holders. The prevailing pro-rata distribution model, which tends to create or exacerbate inequalities between performing artists, represents another issue, particularly for niche or less popular music genres.

The fact that streaming platforms often operate at a loss also raises concerns about transparency. To ensure fair remuneration for all creators, more straightforward guidelines — whether through a WIPO instrument or similar "soft law" mechanisms — are needed. In the meantime, establishing a permanent oversight committee with local observatories could help improve transparency and foster greater collaboration across the music sector.