A few days ago SZA denounced that 238 of her songs had been used to train artificial intelligence models without her consent, especially criticizing the plundering of black music. Now, the Barcelona band Medalla claims to have discovered that 14 songs from their discography appear in one of those same data sets.
In an Instagram reel that starts with the complaint of “We have been robbed,” the group explains that a follower alerted them a few weeks ago and that they verified the information through AI Watchdog, the tool promoted by The Atlantic that allows you to search for works included in different training datasets.
«14 Medalla songs have been used to train generative artificial intelligence models without our consent. I repeat: without our consent,” they write. The band adds that they do not know how their recordings ended up there, but considers it “frustrating and dystopian” to witness the repeated violation of the rights of artists and composers.
The band also assures that this is not an isolated case. In a comment within their publication, the group points out that they have also found songs from “a lot of friendly bands”, mentioning Camellos, Biznaga, Cala Vento, Carolina Durante, Angelus Apatrida and La Trinidad.
Medalla emphasizes that, if this has happened to a “100% independent, self-managed” group that distributes its music from its own label, “who couldn’t it happen to?” In their message they also warn that this situation threatens to aggravate the precariousness of the music sector while “the techno-oligarchs rub their hands.”
Beyond the complaint, the group encourages its followers not to use AI for artistic projects, to financially support independent artists by purchasing music on Bandcamp, in physical format or by attending concerts, and to subscribe to newsletters as a means of direct communication in the face of social networks that they consider increasingly unstable.
