AI In Music: Building A Future On Consent And Transparency

By Marfika Adnan Haris Fadzilah

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape the music industry, experts say the future must be built on consent, transparency, and fair compensation — ensuring that artistes ride the wave of innovation instead of being swept away by it.

Director and Founder of Kopi Su Studio and Koup Music, Kartini Ludwig, said an ethical and equitable AI framework for music must be rooted in consent.

“A fair future to me is one based on consent — an opt-in framework for developing future foundation models. Artistes or their representatives should have the right to say,’ I consent to my data being used in this particular way’,” she told Bernama after speaking at the FrequenSEA: An ASEAN Music Conference here.

 The conference, themed ‘Business, Trends, and the Future of ASEAN Music,’ was held yesterday as part of  Riuh x ASEAN 2025, organised by the Ministry of Communications through MyCreative Ventures, in conjunction with Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship.

pic-2

Ludwig noted that the industry’s adaptation to AI must prioritise transparency and fair compensation, with companies required to disclose what data is being trained on and how it is used — similar to how privacy policies or cookies are disclosed to consumers.

“There’s a nuance in the music and creative industries about why data is a form of intellectual property. We can’t just mine and scrape that data for AI tools, only to have to buy it back later,” she said, stressing that artistes deserve both agency and fair reward for their creative output.

She emphasised that creative control and collaborative development should guide the evolution of music technology.

“In big tech, there’s always been this idea of moving fast and breaking things. But there needs to be a new approach — one focused on long-term, sustainable goals that benefit everyone more fairly,” she said.

pic-3

While artistes can use AI to enhance fan engagement, Ludwig said regulators, tech companies, and record labels bear the responsibility of ensuring artistes are not forced to compete with AI-generated content.

“I’ve spoken to artistes who want to use AI tools to create unique pieces of music for each fan — something special made just for them,” she said.

When asked whether AI can truly capture the cultural and emotional depth of ASEAN music, Ludwig said the technology still has a long way to go in reflecting regional authenticity.

“Many foundation models are biased toward Western training data. For instance, China’s ACE Step model was fine-tuned on Chinese rap and now produces excellent outputs.

pic-4

ASEAN countries like Malaysia or the Philippines could build their own AI models to capture local genres and languages,” she said, adding that such initiatives could help preserve ASEAN’s cultural identity in the era of generative AI.

As a creative entrepreneur, Ludwig acknowledged that balancing innovation with ethics remains a challenge. She said she stays true to her principles by collaborating only with partners who share similar values, such as Fairly Trained.org, Beethoven, and Stability AI.

“In big tech, there’s this notion of moving fast and breaking things. But I believe in taking time, consulting the industry, and building responsibly — and that, in itself, is a more ethical approach,” she said.

-- BERNAMA