Isaac Matthew White
Venice announced the beta launch of a new tool called Co-Manager on Tuesday (April 2nd). The “career assistant” for artists incorporates “insights from top artist managers, marketers, streaming analysts, and digital strategists with OpenAI machine learning and your unique streaming data,” according to a release.
“Co-Manager is designed to educate artists on the business and marketing of music, so artists can spend more time focused on their creative vision,” Suzy Ryoo, co-founder and president of Venice Music, said in a statement. Venice, co-founded by Troy Carter, believes its tool can help artists plan advertising campaigns and album roll-outs.
Many of the most consequential questions related to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence — whether genAI models need to license training data, for example — have yet to be decided.
“Unfortunately, other than right of publicity laws that vary in effectiveness on a state-by-state basis, there is little current protection for an artist regarding the threats posed by artificial intelligence, and, therefore, governmental action is urgently needed,” Russell L. King, director of the King Law Firm, told Billboard earlier this year.
But the government isn’t known for moving quickly. That means, “whatever we think about the state of AI and its legal treatment, it’s important to stay nimble and try to think several steps out because things may change fast,” Spotify general counsel Eve Konstan said recently.
To that end, the heads of the major labels have all discussed the importance of finding AI-powered tools to help their artists.
“We are at the gateway of a new technological era with AI,” Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer said in 2023. “And unsurprisingly, music will be a core component of this process. AI promises to provide us tools so that our artists and writers can create and innovate. It also heralds greater levels of insight through machine learning, as well as potential new licensing channels and avenues for commercial exploitation.”
Similarly, Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge talked about the company goal of “forg[ing] groundbreaking private-sector partnerships with AI technology companies” in a memo to staff in January.
“In addition, our artists have begun working with some of the latest AI technology to develop tools that will enhance and support the creative process and produce music experiences unlike anything that’s been heard before,” Grainge continued. “And to leverage AI technology that would benefit artists, we continue to strike groundbreaking agreements with, among others, Endel and BandLab.”
As the entertainment attorney Tamara Milagros-Butler put it recently, “don’t be afraid to explore AI as a tool, but maintain human connection.”
