A letter to Steve Boom.

The following op/ed comes from Music Business Worldwide founder, Tim Ingham. It originally appeared in Tim’s MBW Review newsletter, sent yesterday (February 27) exclusively to MBW+ subscribers.

Dear Steve,

As Chairman of MusiCares you should feel proud. Four weeks ago, you led a fundraiser in Los Angeles that generated millions of dollars for a vital cause.

It was stuffed with performances that, ironically enough, felt life-affirmingly human.

But in your other role? As VP of Audio at Amazon, aka Jeff Bezos’ de facto head of music?

Well. In your shoes, pride is far from what I’d be feeling today.

Watching my Amazon colleagues cheerfully announce a partnership with Suno, the generative AI platform currently being sued for “mass copyright infringement” by companies representing over 70% of the recorded music market?

At the least, I’d feel disbelief – and betrayal over principles you have publicly espoused.

You are, after all, the same Steve Boom who recently and proudly announced his company’s new global partnership with Universal Music Group?

That December announcement clearly stated: “UMG and Amazon will work collaboratively to address, among other things, unlawful AI-generated content“.

It further promised that Amazon had made a “commitment to advancing and safeguarding human artistry”.

You yourself, Steve, were quoted as pledging that Amazon would “work… to protect the work of artists, songwriters and publishers”.

Erm. WTF happened?

Earlier today (February 27), Amazon breezily confirmed that Suno was being integrated into Alexa, enabling users to “turn simple, creative requests into complete songs, including vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation”.

Vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation seemingly built on the unlicensed work of songwriters and artists.

The same songwriters and artists you properly licensed to build Amazon Music.

Lest we forget that Suno itself has admitted to training its model on “essentially all music files of reasonable quality that are accessible on the open internet”.

Suno flagrantly argues that doing so without (a) asking rightsholders or (b) paying rightsholders is somehow “fair use”.

Does that sound like the sort of behavior that Amazon – with its promise to “address unlawful AI-generated content” – should be publicly legitimizing, let alone promoting?

I realize that in sprawling FAANG corporations, the left hand doesn’t always speak to the right hand on this stuff.

You may have been barely consulted on the Suno tie-up, if at all. (I also doubt Amazon checked with you before investing $8 billion in Anthropic… an AI company also being sued by your friends at Universal Music Group).

Yet a craven willingness to denude songwriters of their assets, all for a cheap Alexa gimmick, does not reflect the Amazon Music I know.

Or, at least, the Amazon Music I have been sold.

I’m talking about the Amazon Music that music publishers rallied to defend four months ago when you added a library of audiobooks to your core service.

“Amazon has engaged with the music publishing and songwriting industry in a respectful and productive way, unlike Spotify,” said NMPA chief, David Israelite at the time – referring to Spotify’s infamous, royalty-cutting “bundling” trick in the US.

What a difference a few weeks make.

As we stand today, Spotify has remedied much of the ugliness of that mechanical royalty cut in new direct deals with Universal and Warner.

Amazon, by contrast, is cozying up to platforms looting thousands of songs into their databases without asking a soul.

The result: Amazon now lies in bed with the Suno CEO who said his company’s product was a great thing for humanity because – actual quote alert – it’s “not really enjoyable to make music now”.

His rationale for this drivel?

Because it “takes a lot of time, a lot of practice, you have to get really good at an instrument or really good at a piece of production software”.

As if these demands on the path to virtuosity are a bad thing. As if they are a problem to be solved.

Whose side do you and Amazon want to be on, Steve?

That guy? Or Paul McCartney, Elton John, Kate Bush, The Clash, Hans Zimmer, ABBA, and all of the other legends currently fighting against AI companies sucking the bones of the greatest music ever written?

Personally, I think growing panic over the concept of AI platforms one day ‘replacing’ artists is a little overblown.

As I’ve written before, I’m convinced that the true joy of recorded music lies in us “communing” with the artist who made it. Impressive robots, thankfully, will never offer that connection.

But behind-the-scenes songwriters and producers?

This whole segment of human talent is under threat of being asset-stripped and replicated by profiteering tech bros sloshing buckets of genius into their machines… without even asking.

Steve, last year, you hired Matt Serletic as Amazon Music’s ‘Director of AI Innovation & Interactive Experiences’.

When he took the job, he exclaimed, “I’m excited to reimagine how people connect with music in the age of AI!”

How saddening those words look today, in the wake of Alexa x Suno.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to address this with you in your inbox, so I’ll echo what I’m sure many of your music rightsholder partners are saying.

This isn’t good, Steve.

Amazon Music no longer looks like the friend of the music industry it did yesterday.

If you think so too, please, stand up and say it loud enough for Seattle to take note.Music Business Worldwide