SOCAN spent the last week in May in Ottawa with parliamentarians, senators, and music creators for rigorous discussion and connections about artificial intelligence (“AI”) and the state of creativity. Our marquee event in the capital, SOCAN on the Hill, focuses on how our organization supports and advocates for our members, bringing stories and conversations to the federal government about the concerns members are currently facing now.
This year’s event followed a throughline so many institutions are navigating: AI.
“Music, AI, and The Future of Creativity,” a panel featuring Dominique Fils-Aimé, Shad, and TALK, was an expansive conversation on AI’s impact on songwriters and composers, particularly around creation, AI transparency, copyright, and how music impacts its listeners.
Panelists brought their own perspectives on AI, including TALK, who spoke about using it as a tool for fun in his personal life. For Shad, music creation is a personal, deeply profound experience, one that comes with a lot of necessary struggles. “I realized a few years ago that I only like doing four or five things,” he said. “One of those things is making music. It’s one of the joys of my life to get to make music.”
For listeners’ experience, music creates journeys and pathways to feel and understand emotional experiences, and even physical sensations. “We’d love to make sure art remains accessible and lived,” Fils-Aimé said. “Music triggers parts of the brain where practically no other thing does that.”
Canadian Parliamentarians and Senators, among many others, who attended the event include Parliamentary Secretary David Myles, Parliamentary Secretary Madeleine Chenette, and Senators René Cormier, Réjean Aucoin, and Kristopher Wells.
SOCAN attended several meetings with Industry, Science, and Economic Development Canada and Canadian Heritage to advocate on behalf of our membership for the AI guardrails we would like to see implemented. Shad and Fils-Aimé also attended a meeting with Canadian Heritage to share their experience with AI as music creators, and how it affects their work and copyright.
Following SOCAN on the Hill, SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. Here, Brown further discussed the importance of the federal government rejecting a proposed text and data mining (“TDM”) exception for AI companies. In brief, a TDM exception would allow AI models to be trained on copyright-protected material without the permission of the owner of that copyright. Brown said that “stealing is not innovation.”
SOCAN is committed to showing up for our members in conversations about AI, copyright, and licensing, and we are committed to fighting to ensure transparency obligations are imposed on tech companies so creators know when and where their works have been used.