Artist ownership? Yes, please.
Eurythmics icon Dave Stewart is launching a counter-offensive in the AI music wars.
As major labels cut deals allowing AI platforms to train on their vast catalogues, Stewart argues the real power, and profits, must lie with artists themselves.
His new venture, Rare, aims to be an incubator where creators retain control over their intellectual property, positioning them to license their own voices and styles directly to generative AI companies.
“Everybody should be selling or licensing their voice and their skills to these companies,” Stewart told The Guardian, calling AI an “unstoppable force.”
His stance arrives amidst lawsuits, like the one brought by Jorja Smith’s label against an AI-generated track, highlighting the urgent clash between innovation and ownership.
Stewart frames AI as a modern drum machine, a tool for augmentation, not replacement, but his plan demands artists become savvy dealmakers to avoid being sidelined in the new sonic frontier.
