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‘Songwriters deserve a bigger piece of the pie’: the music publishing boss on the threat of AI

Shani Gonzales of Warner Chappell says that although people are ‘having fun’ with creating AI songs, ‘what happens when someone tries to sell it?’

“This business cannot and does not stop in the US, so we’ve made some changes, paid more attention around the world, and been more global, not just local,” Gonzales says in her London office off Kensington High Street, where gold and platinum discs from artists such as Rihanna and Central Cee are stacked up. I want to make sure my songwriters and artists continue to be treated fairly and compensated financially She praises Len Blavatnik, Britain’s second richest person, according to the Sunday Times rich list, who is a majority owner of Warner Music through his Access Industries vehicle, saying he is “tuned in and paying attention”. But despite the rising revenues, the industry faces a significant headache in the form of generative AI – from machine-spawned songs deliberately designed to land on popular playlists to video mock-ups of artists singing covers.

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