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ASCAP is now accepting partially AI generated music. So, I sent them an inquiry yesterday asking them how they determine the difference between 'partially' and 'complete' AI generated music. Especially since a member only has to list the title. I guess ASCAP can tell from the title. Am I missing something?
I just registered a new track with ASCAP. There was nowhere mentioning anything about AI. All you have to do is include the title, the author, and a publisher if applicable, and royalty shares. Don't understand why ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN even mentioned accepting partially AI generated music. I don't get the purpose. Now I'm confused.
John
Last edited by John Lawrence Schick; 06/27/2602:34 PM.
I get suno to write the lyric, and the music, with some minimal prompts….heart break, break up, r&b, uptempo, horns, big bass and drums.
Suno spits out song.
I edit the lyric to my liking. I edit the music to my performance abilities and liking.
I register the lyric with ascap and list suno with a 65% share of royalty. I take 35% because I’m commercializing the song….getting it out there.
I perform the song at licensed venues with good audience reception.
For argument sake, let’s say the song is exactly like one you wrote, and you inform me of that.
I say whoops….and hand over my 35% share to you,and you let suno know, and they hand over their 65%……
I doubt that's how it's going to work out in the real World Bill. What would stop someone from registering a song with no publisher. Here's how I register a work before I acquire a publisher:
Composer SCHICK, JOHN LAWRENCE 000000000/ASCAP Interest Party Status Identified Authoritative Own % 50 Collect % 50 Original Publisher PUBLISHER UNKNOWN Interest Party Status Unidentified Non-Authoritative Own % 50 Collect % 50
Notice, this could very well be a fully AI‑generated work. Or let's say a fully AI‑generated track from someone is used on Greys Anatomy. It's registered with ASCAP in my example. Or some publisher that accepts AI tracks.
In my opinion, ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN shouldn't have even mention this "partially AI generated" baloney. It just encourages more fraud.
I agree. It seems but a patch, and slight at that. Way too vague. Interesting. Bill
Yes, sad too. This has the potential of millions of AI songs streaming the Internet. And collecting royalties. I'm not sure how the PROs are going to afford this.
Good link. They seem to be encouraging the artist to use the ai tech to create but then the artist must show them how that has been done before they will accept and approve same.
I get suno to write the lyric, and the music, with some minimal prompts….heart break, break up, r&b, uptempo, horns, big bass and drums.
Suno spits out song.
I edit the lyric to my liking. I edit the music to my performance abilities and liking.
I register the lyric with ascap and list suno with a 65% share of royalty. I take 35% because I’m commercializing the song….getting it out there.
I perform the song at licensed venues with good audience reception.
For argument sake, let’s say the song is exactly like one you wrote, and you inform me of that.
I say whoops….and hand over my 35% share to you,and you let suno know, and they hand over their 65%……
Suno gets no royaties ever. ZERO. Also, contrary to what I thought and many others thought, Suno has stated in writing to me they do not claim any ownership of the masters. I thought they did. But at this point it doesn't matter anymore (more about that in a moment). So the Songwriter royalties are only like 10% of the digital royalities. Most of it (as best I can determine, but I am happy to be corrected because no litigation has happened to resolve any of this permanently) 90% goes to whoever owns the masters. If I am the owner, I get that money no matter who wrote the song. If I also wrote the song, both melody and lyrics (not to mention it is based on my production, same tempo, same instruments plus additional production decisions by me in the process) then I should get 100%. The problem is the royalties still blow. A Billion streams = 144K and change. It is ridiculous. If you auto generate music and lyrics, your tweaks are not going to get you 35% of the full royalities. It would get you 35% of the songwriter portion of the royalty. The real money goes to the owner of the masters. I thought they took ownership in 2026, but they are claiming over and over they are not. Likely the courts will decide, but it is clear to me, I pay a fee to Suno for the content I create. That is ownership of the product. Songwriter royalties are not part of that. You should own the master of auto generated and completly human created music and lyrics just the same. We will have to wait for lawsuits to know long term. But right now I know people collection the royalties as owners of the masters and Suno continues to claim in writing over and over the account holder owns the master.
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks
"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
"It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney
"Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
I get suno to write the lyric, and the music, with some minimal prompts….heart break, break up, r&b, uptempo, horns, big bass and drums.
Suno spits out song.
I edit the lyric to my liking. I edit the music to my performance abilities and liking.
I register the lyric with ascap and list suno with a 65% share of royalty. I take 35% because I’m commercializing the song….getting it out there.
I perform the song at licensed venues with good audience reception.
For argument sake, let’s say the song is exactly like one you wrote, and you inform me of that.
I say whoops….and hand over my 35% share to you,and you let suno know, and they hand over their 65%……
I doubt that's how it's going to work out in the real World Bill. What would stop someone from registering a song with no publisher. Here's how I register a work before I acquire a publisher:
Composer SCHICK, JOHN LAWRENCE 000000000/ASCAP Interest Party Status Identified Authoritative Own % 50 Collect % 50 Original Publisher PUBLISHER UNKNOWN Interest Party Status Unidentified Non-Authoritative Own % 50 Collect % 50
Notice, this could very well be a fully AI‑generated work. Or let's say a fully AI‑generated track from someone is used on Greys Anatomy. It's registered with ASCAP in my example. Or some publisher that accepts AI tracks.
In my opinion, ASCAP, BMI, and SOCAN shouldn't have even mention this "partially AI generated" baloney. It just encourages more fraud.
I am disappointed to hear you are not getting clear answers from ASCAP. But it is my understanding at this moment that Suno does not claim ownership or any interest in anything produced on their site. Why? Because it removes them from any lawsuits (theoretically) and puts legal responsibility on the user. But for that to happen, the user owns it outright. This makes the user the owner of the master 100% just like you own your master is you paid for it. That is the lions share of streaming royalties, though I have zero experience with your expertise which is sync licensing. But don't you receive payment as the owner of your masters that is separate from your writer royalty? As I understand it Spotify pays 90% of the royalty to the owner of the masters and 10% to the songwriters. I would love to know if it is different than that, but I keep getting this as the answer for how it really breaks down. Master ownership is critical and it makes most of the money. What is your take on that? The songwriting issue is how courts will honor AI use in creative works. Let's keep it simple. I write a lyric, Suno writes music for it. I am 50% creator straight up. But if I also wrote the melody but the vocal is AI, do I get 100%? What if I wrote the melody but Suno altered the last line of the chorus. How does that affect my ownership? In a studio, if a singer goes up instead of down, she has changed that melody, but in traditional cases, the songwriter is not robbed of their royalties based on that change which differed from their original. That happens in nearly any studio session. I have no idea how courts will side, but likely is that they will screw the little guys while protecting the labels and publishers in any way possible.
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@gmail.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney Facebook: www.facebook.com/justplainfolks
"Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
"It's easier to be the bigger man when you actually are..." -Brian Austin Whitney
"Sometimes all you have to do to inspire humans to greatness is to give them a reason and opportunity to do something great." -Brian Austin Whitney
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