The UK’s music industry is at risk from the unregulated use of creative work to train generative artificial intelligence, the chair of the House of Lords’ Communications and Digital Committee has warned, urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to intervene to protect rights, jobs and export earnings.
Immediate appeal to new prime minister
Baroness Keeley spoke at an event organised by industry body UK Music, setting out the scale of the challenge facing venues, studios, musicians and supporting businesses as technological change collides with an already pressured sector. She highlighted the need for urgent government action to preserve the legal and commercial framework that allows creators to earn from their work.
“A cornerstone of our creative sectors’ current success is the effectiveness of the UK’s system of copyright and licensing arrangements… However, the protections afforded by copyright are now under threat.”
According to figures cited at the event, the UK music industry supports 220,000 jobs and generates £8 billion for the economy, with £4.8 billion of that coming from exports each year. Baroness Keeley warned that widespread, unlicensed use of creative content by large technology firms for AI training is eroding creators’ control over how their work and identities are commercially exploited.
What the industry says is at stake
The chair argued that a proliferation of AI-generated content in the market risks displacing human-made work, reducing paid commissions and undermining the incentives that sustain songwriting, performance and music production. Left unchecked, she said, the problem could spread beyond music to threaten the wider creative industries, which industry sources say are valued at £125 billion.
- Music industry contribution: £8bn to the UK economy annually
- Jobs supported: 220,000
- Exports: £4.8bn each year
Baroness Keeley also praised a recent government measure to cut business rates for music venues from next April, saying it was a welcome step amid rising costs and post-Brexit touring barriers. But she made clear that fiscal relief will not address the new commercial threat posed by generative AI if copyright and licensing arrangements are allowed to be hollowed out.
Legal and policy implications
The remarks place pressure on the Burnham administration to set out how it will respond to claims that tech companies – many based outside the UK – are using creative works without licences to build AI systems. The issue crosses intellectual property law, international technology policy and cultural sector support, and could require regulatory, legislative or negotiated commercial solutions.
Industry figures at the event argued that preserving strong copyright and fair licensing is central to enabling creators to continue producing content relied on by audiences globally. They say that weakening those mechanisms risks both immediate income loss for creators and longer-term damage to the UK’s position as a world-leading cultural exporter.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Music industry jobs | 220,000 |
| Economic contribution | £8bn |
| Export revenues | £4.8bn |
| Creative industries value | £125bn |
Ministers have previously said the creative industries are a key pillar of the UK economy. The intervention from the Lords committee chair sets an early test for the new prime minister’s priorities on digital regulation, intellectual property enforcement and support for cultural sectors facing rapid technological disruption.
Industry bodies will now be looking for clear signals from Downing Street that steps will be taken to ensure creators retain meaningful control over the commercial use of their work and likenesses in the age of generative AI.
