Hozier May Strike Over AI Threat to Music

Hozier, an Irish musician, stated that the threat that artificial intelligence (AI) poses to his industry has led him to think about going on strike.

Actors and writers in Hollywood are currently on strike in an argument over better contracts and protection from the application of AI.

Hozier stated that he would be open to participating in a similar strike in the music industry to a reputable news outlet Newsnight.

The musician continued by saying he wasn’t certain if AI met the definition of art.

For the first time in decades, Hollywood actors and writers manned picket lines in July. One of their issues was the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ suggestion to preserve digital copies of actors.

But when it comes to the danger AI poses to its industry, the music industry has yet to follow suit. The technology might be used to compose music or imitate well-known performers.

Following complaints that it violated copyright laws, a song that utilized AI to clone the voices of Drake and The Weeknd was taken off of streaming services in April.

Hozier, whose real name is Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, responded when asked if he could envision going on strike in response to the threat AI poses to music: Joining in solidarity if there was… action on that? Absolutely.

According to the Grammy-nominated singer, best known for his song Take Me to Church, “whether [AI is] art or not, I think, is almost a philosophical debate,” she said.

It is unable to produce anything based on a human experience. I’m not sure if it conforms to the definition of art.

The Financial Times reported last week that Google and Universal Music are in negotiations to license musicians’ melodies and voices for music created by artificial intelligence.

Related Posts

Hozier spoke about the passing of fellow Irish musician Sinéad O’Connor during his interview.

After she tore up a picture of the Pope on US TV in 1992 in protest against child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the singer reflected that she had laid the path for him to follow.

At first, her actions were widely denounced.

Hozier’s debut single Take Me to Church, which he claimed criticized the church’s teaching of shame regarding sexual orientation, peaked at number one in 12 countries and is still the 30th most streamed song of all time three decades later.

Regarding the variation in response, Hozier said, “I think sensibilities have changed.” I believe that Sinead’s gender played a role in some of it. She was among the first people, in my opinion, to have the courage to speak up and say it.

That was so frowned upon at the time.

Hozier asserted that his debut song’s mission statement is more relevant today than it was ten years ago.

Although I’m not happy about it, I believe it is more applicable in some ways. Ten years ago, he claimed, there were no LGBTQ+-free zones in the European Union.

We didn’t have armed militias stationed outside of, say, gay and lesbian spaces with such a dire threat looming over them.

The musician acknowledged that it was a difficult question to answer when asked if he would ever perform in countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, or those that oppress minorities.

Are minorities not oppressed here? or in the USA? He revealed that he had declined an invitation to attend an event that the Russian government had sponsored as he asked.

It was interesting that I was once asked to perform in the Vatican City. I think at one point they asked me to sing Take Me to Church.

And you replied “no“? Derbyshire inquired. Oh, yes. Hozier joked that would’ve been entertaining.

In advance of the release of his new album Unreal Unearth, the musician spoke with Newsnight in his lone UK broadcast interview.

On August 18, the album will be released. It draws inspiration from the Italian poet Dante’s Inferno and his personal experience with the pandemic.