Believe and its TuneCore subsidiary have adopted a new policy when it comes to AI-generated music: they will not distribute tracks made using “pirate studios”.
Note the small ‘p’ and ’s’ – this isn’t an unexpected crusade against the popular network of self-serve recording studios. In this context, pirate studios are unlicensed AI-music platforms.
Who, though? As far as we can tell, Believe hasn’t published a list of the offending companies publicly. In an interview with MBW, CEO Denis Ladegaillerie revealed one of the banned platforms though: Suno.
The policy sparks some questions. Suno *is* licensed by one major label, Warner Music Group, although it is still being sued by the others, and doesn’t have a deal in place with Believe.
Udio, which does have a newly-inked deal with Believe, as well as agreements with UMG and WMG, doesn’t yet have a licence from Sony Music. So there’s a debate to be had about how many deals an AI firm needs before Believe deems it to be unpiratey.
Still, the company is confident in its approach, so much so that it has written to streaming services calling for them to follow suit.
“We do not understand why they’re not blocking these tracks — tracks that are creating real potential liability for them down the road,” said Ladegaillerie. “Anyone distributing copyright-infringing content is liable for copyright infringement. I think people sometimes forget that…”
