Politicians in the European parliament are unhappy with music discovery, diversity, and AI in their new proposed bill for music streaming.

The EU are re-examining how music streaming runs in their member states. A new proposed bill looks to tackle transparency across a number of areas including music discovery algorithms and AI.

The European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee have proposed a new bill. The ‘Cultural Diversity and the Conditions for Authors in the European Streaming Market‘ was voted for by 23 members, with 3 against, and one abstention.

Amongst the proposals are laws that would require streaming services to make their algorithms transparent. They want the methods that music streaming services use to recommend music to be known. They also want them to “guarantee that European works are visible and accessible”.

They also want AI-generated tracks to be clearly labelled. The bill would enforce clarity for listeners as to whether they are listening to human-produced music or AI-generated songs. It’s come to that, yes.

Discussions around AI and music have moved closer to legislation in recent months. The UK recently held a roundtable to discuss the policy around AI and music. Meanwhile, the AI conversation has gained tempo in the US and has helped the push of a ‘No Fakes Act‘.

Also mentioned in the bill from the European parliament:

  • A requirement for streaming services to “identify rights-holders via the correct allocation of metadata to help their works be discovered”
  • A “diversity indicator” that analyses what genres and languages are available, as well as “the presence of independent authors”
  • An increased investment in European music “including local and niche artists or artists from vulnerable communities to offer a more diverse repertoire, as well as to support authors in the digital transformation of their business models”

Earlier in the year, a Canadian bill similarly demanded that music services promote Canadian content. Music Canada delivered a warning that this would actually hurt music discovery. They claimed it would encourage pushing music that doesn’t suit listeners’ tastes, disengaging audiences.

We will have to wait and see how this plays out in Europe.