Downing street visit highlights AI music fears

Matt Taylor, an executive director for the Music Producers’ Guild, was asked, along with other top voices in the music industry, to speak to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s advisors at Downing Street.

Matt, who has openly spoken about his experience growing up in care before, commented: “It was a very unreal experience. I was a young offender and stats show that 56 per cent of care leavers end up in prison and here I am advising the government on how to handle problem topics.

“I don’t have imposter syndrome because I’ve worked very, very hard to get the knowledge and experience I have now, but I did have that surreal feeling that if my younger self saw me, he may not believe what was happening.”

Matt was invited to talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in music.

He said: “There are so many bots going around at the minute creating ‘music’. An example would be where you can hear Johnny Cash singing Barbie Girl.

“Neither the estate of Johnny Cash or the creators of Barbie Girl are getting any money from this.

“Artificial Intelligence is trawling social media and if it spots something which is getting a lot of streams it is creating something very similar and passing it off as its work so the original artist is then missing out.

If this carries on it is going to stop new music coming through because how can you ever win against a machine? Creativity will be lost. So we were speaking to the goverment about this and the ways we can combat the situation.”

Matt, who was elected as High Peak borough councillor for Fairfield earlier this year, says he is working with the authorities on creative projects and showing young people how they do not have to leave Buxton to achieve their dreams.

He added: “If I can do all of this and be at the top of my game and still live in Buxton, it shows you don’t have to move to London or a big city to catch your big break.”

by Lucy Ball, Buxton Advertiser, 28 September 2023