Hi, this is Paul Bender from Hiatus Kaiyote and The Sweet Enoughs here.

If you’re reading this than you are someone who cares about music and the people who make it.

Earlier this year I had x 4 songs that were not created by me, had nothing to do with me, and sounded like AI slop, were uploaded to my artist profile 'The Sweet Enoughs' on digital streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, Youtube Music etc) - I went through a agonising process of having them removed from my artist profile. The process took over 8 weeks to get any action from streaming platforms - helped along presumably by publicly shaming and media coverage. 

Selected media: 
ABC article 
Sydney Morning Herald article 
Radio NZ 

The Sweet Enough's has over 30 million streams on DSPs, so a lot of fans were notified and excited to hear these 'new songs' only to be rudely let down by this 'fake AI song' - only for that process to occur 3 x more times!!
There was zero accountability from streaming platforms - they insisted that it was a 'mapping issue' - when an artist has the same name they can be mixed up and that they were not AI. 
As a result they created 4 x new 'The Sweet Enoughs' artist profiles which continue to exist. 

After I began posting publicly about this issue I became aware of how wide-spread this issue is, and how easily exploited artists accounts are as there are ZERO protections in place which will stop music appearing on 99% of artists profiles.

Some recent examples: 
Emily Portman — Orca
A fully AI-generated album “Orca” was released under her name across Spotify, iTunes, etc., without her knowledge or consent. 

Josh Kaufman
A track “Someone Who’s Love Me” (poorly produced, broken English lyrics) was uploaded under his name, though he did not create it. 

Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Father John Misty (J. Tillman), Iron & Wine (Sam Beam), Teddy Thompson, Jakob Dylan
All of these  artists have fake AI tracks or albums attributed to them using similar AI-generated artwork and “creative credits.

Blaze Foley (deceased, died 1989)
A song titled “Together” (AI-generated) was posted to his official Spotify profile. 

Toto (band, still active)
A track “Name This Night” appeared on their official Spotify page, likely AI-generated, prompting Steve Lukather to issue a formal complaint.

I began working with an ever growing collective of music industry professionals to apply pressure for digital distributors, DSP’s and lawmakers to solve at least one of the glaring problems currently happening with streaming.

The problem: lack of a true authentication process in uploading music to DSPs is flooding real artists profiles with fraudulently attributed songs.  Whether the music itself is created by AI or a human, there is always a human con artist behind these impersonations. They are looking to benefit financially off the hard work of the artists they’re pretending to be, and they are having real effects on both artists’ careers and legacies, as well as users' experiences on all streaming platforms.

The solution: The implementation of a reliable authentication system (such as two factor or otherwise) is essential moving forward to give artists and labels control of their artistic output and put an end to these impostors.

The game plan: we are working to get as much media coverage of this situation as possible in both traditional and social media platforms.  One component of this is an open letter to be published on numerous social platforms with a list of influential signatories to gain maximum traction.  It would be highly useful to have some household names on this list as well as other influential figures in the industry from the creative and business end.  The open letter is attached below.  Ultimately we are calling on anyone with a specific knowledge or skill set who wishes to contribute to this cause in the method they know best, so if you are as frustrated about this as we are, please reach out.  

I’ve linked here to a video just released by Anthony Fantano covering this story which should give you some more insight into the issue, if you aren’t already aware of it.  

Below is the open letter. We would love to have your name added to the  public statement so we can build real momentum to create greater protections for all musicians on streaming platforms. 

An Open Letter to Music Streaming Platforms and Digital Music Distributors:

The rapidly changing landscape of technology as it pertains to the arts has brought about a great number of changes in the ecosystem of creators in the last few decades.  What was once the great hope of streaming has devolved into a situation of hopelessness for the overwhelming majority of artists, musicians, songwriters and other creatives in the music industry.  The proliferation of AI generated music is only adding to this most uncertain future and raises a myriad of ethical issues in an industry that already feels vastly unjust to those who have dedicated their lives to bringing their music to the world.  

Within the current framework of digital music distribution, there lies a glaring oversight: the lack of an authentication process for uploading music to digital streaming platforms.  Currently, anyone has the ability to easily upload any music onto the profile of any artist on any existing streaming platform.  This has resulted in an abundance of fake songs populating DSP’s, some human made, but increasingly AI generated, which are being presented as the work of existing legitimate artists.  Fake songs, fake albums and fake collaborations are rife now on these platforms.  Whether AI generated or man made, these tracks are being uploaded and royalties collected by bad actors at an industrial scale.  The abundance of AI tools only makes the scam infinitely easier.  The only current recourse is for artists, managers and record labels to deal with each of these fraudulent cases directly with DSP’s, which is time consuming and laborious for all parties involved.  The effectiveness and expedience of this solution is also highly dependent on the standing of the artist, leaving many smaller independent artists hopelessly disempowered to resolve their issues effectively.  This ever-growing wave of illegal uploading is compromising both the reputations of artists, and of the streaming platforms, by creating a degraded user experience for listeners.  Unaddressed, the situation will only become exponentially worse.

We are demanding that digital distributors and streaming platforms institute a functional authentication system to prevent this.  Without one, the future of the streaming landscape is one populated with an endless sea of AI impersonations that impacts artists and cheapens the experience and usefulness of the streaming platforms themselves.  Authentication systems have been implemented in the majority of important online activities; it should be the bare minimum for streaming platforms and distributors to implement when uploading to artist profiles.  Without these measures, streaming platforms are leaving the door wide open for a non-stop barrage of fraudulent activity to occur.  Without an authentication process in place, these platforms should face legal penalties for failing to prevent fraud.  

We are calling on the music industry, politicians and law makers around the world to take measures to protect our creators in these most uncertain times.


LIST OF SIGNATORIES BELOW:

Hiatus Kaiyote - The Sweet Enoughs - Snarky Puppy Anderson .Paak - King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Chaka Khan - 9th Wonder - Anthony Fantano - Jill Scott - Alice Ivy - Domi and JD Beck - Kimbra - Nick Hakim - Mario Caldato Jr - The Kount - BADBADNOTGOOD - Willow Smith - Karriem Riggins - Mildlife - Stro Elliot -Andrew Huang - House Shoes - Nick Speed - DJ Nu-Mark - Mickey de Grand IV - Kiefer - IDK - Tom Brenneck - Jeff Ellis - Jonti - Machinedrum - The Teskey Brothers - Jordan Rakei - Miguel Atwood-Ferguson - Saul Williams - Rapsody - Animals as Leaders - Lalah Hathaway - FKJ - Genesis Owusu - Rich Medina - Mayer Hawthorne - Ecca Vandal - Teebs - Leon Michaels - MNDSGN - Tank and The Bangas - Gilles Peterson - Jacob Collier - The Gaslamp Killer - Seun Kuti - Surprise Chef - The Free Nationals - Marcin - Devin Morrison - Cartoons - Georgia Anne Muldrow - ATC Management - Pharoahe Monch - Shafig Husayn - Danny Brown - Kenny Beats - Tom Misch - Dwele - Guilty Simpson - Bilal - Amber Mark - Instupendo - Float Waves