Musicians must embrace ‘unstoppable power’ of AI, urges Dave Stewart of Eurythmics | Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart, co-founder of Eurythmics, said AI is an “unstoppable force,” and musicians and other artists should bow to the inevitable and license their music to generative AI platforms.

These platforms use artificial intelligence to analyze existing songs and tracks, using that knowledge to create entirely new songs and tracks as requested by the user. For example, someone could ask an AI platform to create a song about a boozy night out in the style of a British band, and it would draw on songs with similar sounds and themes to create its own song.

In recent weeks, Universal and Warner have partnered with AI platforms Udio and Suno respectively, so anyone can create their own music based on the work of artists signed to those labels, or manipulate and remix existing songs.

“Everyone should be selling or licensing their voice and skills to these companies,” Stewart said. “Otherwise they’ll take it anyway.”

This is opposed by major companies and brands, which have said that their artists will have to subscribe to the services and will then receive royalties from the companies using artificial intelligence to work.

Stewart, who has had nine UK top 10 albums and several singles with Eurythmics, predicted major disruptions to the music industry from artificial intelligence and other forces, even after the piracy and streaming disruptions of recent years. “There will be a disintegration of the giant companies that control their artists,” he said.

He was speaking as he launched Rare Entity, a new project he hopes will be part of that disintegration.

Stewart said artists tend to be “at the bottom” in the corporate structure, and it makes them feel grateful for a deal that was “usually terrible.” Rare Entity aims to give creators across disciplines full control and ownership of their work, rather than them relinquishing their rights to record labels or other companies. In the fast-moving world of digital technology, the speed with which AI has taken over is a clear warning to artists about the importance of owning their work and thus controlling how it is used by AI platforms and others.

Rare Entity was created with entrepreneurs Dom Joseph and Rich Britton, to provide financial support for projects being developed, as well as ideas that may need creative and business assistance. Rare Entity does not seek to own the underlying intellectual property, but instead seeks a share in the profits generated by the funded project. Examples of projects in the works include Planet Fans, a platform for artists and their bands to communicate with fans about tickets, merchandise, and more.

Stewart said the idea was initially inspired in the early 1980s by him and Annie Lennox who had to take out a £5,000 bank loan to start Eurythmics. It started to catch on well in 2002 when he organized a meeting in Deutsche Bank’s boardroom in New York.

“I invited different people,” Stewart said. “Lou Reed, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre’s lawyer. I was explaining, with the advent of the Internet, that artists had better start thinking differently, create their own world and take back control of everything they can control.”

As someone who struggles for creative independence, as well as an evangelist for the transformative power of technology, Stewart says he’s not as worried as other musicians about generative AI. In the right hands, just like the first drum machine, it should be used as a creative tool – but not as a complete replacement for creativity.

He says people in creative sectors should all study Gilbert and George’s Ten Commandments for Artists. My favorite saying is: “You won’t know exactly what you’re doing, but you will do it.”