Exciting times. Exciting AI times.

And no, I don’t mean the usual balancing act of describing AI as a useful tool for composers, songwriters, lyricists, performers, and producers while at the same time being a threat to our creative existence.

It’s exciting because the co-innovation between creators and technology that we should have had in place when building and accepting the streaming service structure is now genuinely happening.

Sure, many in our business still have a silo mentality, believing that if it’s broken, don’t try to fix it — as long as it’s our money and copyright the standard is set for, not theirs.

We have always had a tendency to blame others for the flaws affecting the conditions of our work and income, and we now do the same when it comes to AI. We see it as us versus them, humans versus machines. But why not think of it as man with machine versus man without machine? Let’s face it: Development can be driven by humans and machines, but adoption is driven by people.

Adoption of new technology has always been the weakest point historically, often resulting in inferior technology setting the standard.

Some of the big players in the music industry might see themselves as untouchable and be reluctant to enter a more sustainable and lucrative business model. This will not hinder progress to continue and increase overall value anyway, merely removing a few of the big ones from the equation. Consider BlackBerry, which went from a 20% market share to 0.1% in 2016.

So why am I so optimistic?

- This week, I have used fully functioning tools demonstrating how, with advanced music DNA registration and analysis, we are ready to license our music to AI companies just like any other service using our music. This means we expand the possibilities to monetize music through AI, not reduce them.

- I have seen how we can use AI to identify what AI creates and what is human-made. It can even show the percentage of how much is created by humans, providing a tool for a CMO or other representative to help identify which repertoire to represent in collective management and what is protected under copyright law.

Talking has been important. Now is the time to act.

Exciting times. Exciting AI times.