As AI continues to problem the boundaries of creativity and copyright within the music business, SoundCloud has discovered itself within the crosshairs of a rising dialog about belief, transparency and expertise.
This previous week, a clause buried in SoundCloud’s up to date phrases of service captured the artist group’s consideration. First flagged by Futurism, the clause means that music uploaded to the platform may, in some instances, be used to “inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence.”
The revelation is surfacing deep-seated anxieties among independent artists about how their content is being used behind the scenes. But SoundCloud, long considered a cornerstone of artist empowerment and grassroots discovery, is seeking to clarify intentions.
The company responded through a statement and unequivocally denied that its service has trained AI on the content of its users.
“SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes,” a SoundCloud spokesperson told Futurism. “In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a ‘no AI’ tag on our site to explicitly prohibit unauthorized use.”
The company emphasized that its engagement with AI has been focused on enhancing user experience through tools such as personalized recommendations and fraud detection—not harvesting creative works to feed generative algorithms.
Still, the terms, updated in February 2024, arrived just as legal and ethical scrutiny around generative AI in music hit a fever pitch. Labels have been battling with tech firms over training data and artists have voiced concerns about their identities being synthesized without permission.
For now, SoundCloud’s message is one of reassurance, but the industry will be watching closely to see how that message holds up in practice. You can read their full statement below.
SoundCloud has always been and will remain artist-first. Our focus is on empowering artists with control, clarity, and meaningful opportunities to grow. We believe AI, when developed responsibly, can expand creative potential—especially when guided by principles of consent, attribution, and fair compensation.
SoundCloud has never used artist content to train AI models, nor do we develop AI tools or allow third parties to scrape or use SoundCloud content from our platform for AI training purposes. In fact, we implemented technical safeguards, including a “no AI” tag on our website to explicitly prohibit unauthorized use.
The February 2024 replace to our Phrases of Service was meant to make clear how content material could work together with AI applied sciences inside SoundCloud’s personal platform. Use instances embrace personalised suggestions, content material group, fraud detection, and enhancements to content material identification with the assistance of AI Applied sciences.
Any future utility of AI at SoundCloud will probably be designed to help human artists, enhancing the instruments, capabilities, attain and alternatives accessible to them on our platform. Examples embrace enhancing music suggestions, producing playlists, organizing content material, and detecting fraudulent exercise. These efforts are aligned with current licensing agreements and moral requirements. Instruments like Musiio are strictly used to energy artist discovery and content material group, to not practice generative AI fashions.
We perceive the issues raised and stay dedicated to open dialogue. Artists will proceed to have management over their work, and we’ll maintain our group knowledgeable each step of the best way as we discover innovation and apply AI applied sciences responsibly, particularly as authorized and business frameworks proceed to evolve.
