Fully AI-generated music should not be copyrightable: IFPI CEO Oakley

Globally, we have 837 mn individual subscriber accounts in 2025 up from 750 mn in 2024. It's (largely) US, UK, although the US numbers are little slower than we were used to say 20 years ago, she said

The international Federation of the Phonographic Industry or IFPI is the apex body for the $31.7 billion global music business. It represents over 8,000 recording companies across 70 countries. On a recent trip to India, CEO Victoria Oakley spoke to Vanita Kohli-Khandekar on a video chat from Delhi. Edited excerpts:

 

How do music labels view the duopoly that Spotify and YouTube have over the business globally? 

In India, you're right, YouTube is ahead of the game. There are parts of the world where Apple is the most popular streaming app. China has entirely different apps owned by Tencent and NetEase among others. And there are parts of the world local streaming platforms exist like Wynk in India which shut down in 2024. If you look carefully at the global picture of subscribers and what streaming platforms they're using, it isn't quite as straightforward as that duopoly. It is a different picture in different parts of the world.

 

The IFPI report states that more than half the revenues from streaming are from subscription. Does that vary based on country?

  Globally, we have 837 million individual subscriber accounts in 2025 up from 750 million in 2024. It's (largely) US, UK, although the US numbers are a little slower than we were used to say 20 years ago. In Japan subscription streaming numbers are up again. And that's a market that has traditionally relied heavily on physical. That (pay streaming rising) is true for Latin America too, which is the fastest growing market. What is interesting is that physical (which was 16.6 per cent of global revenues) is not disappearing.

 

What does the IFPI India dashboard look like? 

 

India continues to be a top 20 market in revenue across the board whether that's streaming, technical, public performance and licencing. (IFPI calculates revenues from all strands). It is number 14 this year. It grew 4. 6 per cent last year (over 2024). Also 96 per cent people are listening to music on their smartphones. This is a huge country with phenomenal talent.  Why then is it only number 14 in the top 20 markets? 

By comparison, over the last 10 or 11 years, China has climbed from number 19 in 2012 to 4 in 2025 overtaking Germany. It could overtake the UK (which is at number 3) in 2026. You compare that with the rate at which India has made it up that chart (from number 23 in 2016 to 14 now) it is nowhere near as fast. There is a lag in the size of revenue, compared to the size of listenership. (According to FICCI-EY report the music business stood at $655 million in 2025)

 

India is a low per capita income country leading to low per unit revenues. Is that the case with music as well?

  Yes. You know, we have to be realistic about when, how and at what volume the move to paid can and should happen. But it will need to come as affordability grows. That is the engine of growth in the music ecosystem. It is the way reinvestment happens and money gets paid out to artists.

 

Is advertising revenue factored into the India numbers?

  Yes, it is.

 

The IFPI report talks about AI (artificial intelligence) and fake plays. What exactly is the issue here?

  Generative AI can be dvided into two camps. One, as an amazing, cool new tools for artists that can be used ethically and with consent. For instance if you are an upcoming artist and you need a saxophonist for your track, but you can't afford to fly one in, AI could help.

 

Currently there's a free for all around AI music models who are training on all the music they can find. Training sounds like quite a nice word but what they're actually doing is absorbing content, training without seeking/asking permission or paying any remuneration. That is where I am interested in lobbying hard. 

 

Copyright rules work all over the world. We've just got to find a pragmatic way to apply the existing copyright rules from an analogue and early digital world into an AI world. It is about asking permission and paying if you use their (music labels’) stuff.

The third, separate issue is about about fake plays and streaming. It has existed for a long time but AI has put rocket boosters under it. I could sit in my hotel  room and with one laptop use AI tools to generate 100 fake tracks with fake cover art, fake lyrics, fake melody, fake name of the band, etc. Then I could upload all of that onto a whole bunch of streaming platforms. Then from a different laptop with AI bots I can push up the number of streams to show that many people have listened to these.

That is streaming fraud and it is really damaging. It means that some of the money that would otherwise have gone to real artists is going to someone spinning fake plays. It is becoming industrialised with streaming farms, students being paid to generate false clips with multiple fake accounts and so on.

  (Estimates from outside the IFPI put fake plays at 2 per cent of total global streaming revenue)

 

How does the IFPI look at generative AI being used to create singers and music, like the India Today Group did recently? 

There are plenty of tools out there to generate a track with zero human creation. I don't think the music industry wants to try and stop that. What we feel very strongly about is there should be a very clear distinction around that kind of music versus human generated music. Fully AI generated music shouldn't be copyrightable and therefore shouldn't receive royalties or revenue. In a (music) chart, should an AI track be allowed in? Absolutely not.

 

Has the industry has agreed on that? 

We are finalising that policy just now. We are also looking at a time when there are licenced AI music models that have the right to use our training. What is the place for their output? That does have the right to be on the charts. What if there's an artist who writes the track, and sings the track, but they choose AI for the drums and the bass? Where on the spectrum do we think that should lie?

  As long as it's done ethically and appropriately we need to find a way to celebrate it.