Genie Music Corp., a music streaming service provider and a subsidiary of telecom company KT Corp., is poised to launch an artificial intelligence-based music platform that will enable users to create and commercialize their AI-assisted music without copyright concerns.

Industry sources revealed on Thursday that Genie Music is developing the platform and aiming to launch it as early as May 2024. “We are currently working on detailed operational guidelines such as the scope of AI music copyright recognition and revenue distribution,” the music company said.

Genie Music unveiled the beta version of its AI composition and arrangement service, Re:La, in June 2023. The service generates digital sheet music from user uploads while also allowing for editing and arrangement within the platform, but copyright concerns have limited sharing the results outside the platform. Genie Music has been focusing on addressing copyright issues since, while advancing the service. “The new AI music platform will protect the original creator‘s copyright while providing revenue opportunities for both users and creators,” Genie Music explained.

The AI industry is expanding beyond text and images to include music generation, with notable AI music services including AIVA and Suno each using a different approach. AIVA, released in 2016, allows users to create music by selecting music genres, moods, and tempos from pre-set AI templates. It is often used to create background music for advertisements, games, and movies. Chilloen Co.’s Keeneat is a similar Korean service that generates a one-minute piece of music in about 10 seconds.

Udio is a newer AI music generation service developed by former Google DeepMind engineers and like Suno, works via prompts. The platform generates music within 40 seconds when prompted with a specific genre, mood, and lyrics. While praising the high-quality of Udio‘s output, media reports anticipate growth in AI music services, reflecting the increasing demand for personalized musical expression.

Industry insiders expect that the commercial market for AI-generated music will soon begin to flourish, given the high-quality output of AI music creation services. According to research firm Market.US, the global market for AI music creation services is expected to grow from $229 million in 2022 to $2.66 billion in 2032.

But copyright and patent rights issues remain unresolved, as current laws do not recognize AI as authors or inventors, thus complicating copyright attribution. Against this backdrop, Genie Music plans to allow commercialization of remade songs, not original scores, distributing profits between the composer and the AI-assisted arranger.

By Kim Dae-gi and Chang Iou-chung

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