The Music Industry's AI Copyright Arms Race: Tracing and Licensing the Future of Sound

A convincingly fake Drake and The Weeknd duet went viral in 2023, exposing the copyright vulnerabilities of AI-generated music. In response, the music industry is building new infrastructure, not to stop AI music outright, but to make it traceable. This involves embedding detection systems across the entire music pipeline: from training tools and upload platforms to licensing databases and recommendation algorithms. The goal is early identification, metadata tagging, and controlled distribution. Startups are developing systems to scan tracks for synthetic elements and automatically tag metadata, even pinpointing mimicked segments. Future licensing models will likely prioritize proactive identification and licensing before release, rather than post-release litigation. This shift towards preemptive licensing, powered by AI detection technology, promises a fundamental change in the music industry's relationship with AI-generated content.