AI is changing how music is created and managed, but human authorship still defines copyright. The biggest gains for music entrepreneurs will come from faster production and streamlined business operations.
On January 29, 2025, the U.S Copyright Office published part 2 of its report on AI in the music industry, concluding that generative AI outputs can be protected by copyright only where a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements, and that the mere provision of prompts doesn’t meet that standard.
That decision is significant for music entrepreneurs and the future of the music industry as a whole.
How Will Artificial Intelligence Trends Influence Songwriting?
Music business innovation has often trended based on how new technology impacts songwriting. For example, look at how significantly music changed after the introduction of the electric guitar. Guitar innovators like Jimi Hendrix and Tony Iommi explored the possibilities of the different ways guitar pickups could react with powerful amplifiers and created whole new sounds and techniques.
The introduction of digital technology changed the industry as a whole by dramatically lowering the cost of producing a listenable recording. In the past, the studio was the only option, but digital audio workstations have meant anyone with a reasonably good computer can potentially access an entire digital studio.
AI-Powered Drum Machines and More
One of the biggest challenges with programming a compelling drum beat on a drum machine is emulating the groove of a real drummer. Some genres like techno and house take advantage of the mechanical, repetitive sound of the drum machine, but if you’re trying to play genres like funk and soul, an electronic beat is difficult to get right.
But generative AI can take a basic MIDI idea and add subtle timing and velocity changes to make things sound more natural and groovy. Just like with generative text, the AI adds humanized randomness, making your bare-bones drum patterns sound alive and funky.
Remember that the lyrics and melody are what give you copyright to the song, so an AI helping you generate chord progressions is fair game for music entrepreneurs.
Other Artificial Intelligence Trends
Songwriting and production are only part of the picture. The same category of tools that humanizes a drum pattern is being applied to the business side of independent music. The work here might not be as interesting as the production side, but this is where AI really pays off.
The following three areas are key for music entrepreneurs and those running a label:
- You can run twelve months of distributor statements through an analysis in an afternoon and find out which territories genuinely over-index, and unlike generative output, those numbers are all verifiable.
- Metadata and rights admin return money faster than anything else on this list
- GTM AI can handle sync and booking research directly, pulling contacts and drafting the pitches
Music Entrepreneurs and AI
It’s not going to replace songwriting, but AI will change almost every other part of the music business. Although the creative choices that determine a song’s definition and eligibility for copyright will still rely on human authorship, the greatest benefit for music entrepreneurs will come from quicker production, more streamlined rights management, and improved business intelligence.
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