Musicians union presses major labels for AI consent and pay ahead of contract talks

The American Federation of Musicians has launched “Human Made, Human Paid,” a campaign demanding that record labels secure musicians’ permission, credit them and pay them when their recordings train AI. The union will press those demands in November contract talks, while its lawsuit over what labels already owe musicians continues.

The campaign targets Universal Music Group, Sony, Warner and Disney’s Hollywood Records. AFM says it represents more than 80,000 professional musicians. Its proposals would give performers a role in decisions about AI use of their recorded work, rather than leaving those decisions solely to labels licensing their catalogs.

The bargaining vehicle is the Sound Recording Labor Agreement, which governs recording terms, royalty payments and healthcare benefits for union musicians. AFM wants its AI safeguards included in negotiations for a successor agreement. These are union demands, not protections the labels have agreed to adopt.

Permission, attribution and a share of payments

• Consent: Musicians would have the right to approve or refuse the use of their recorded performances for AI training. The proposal seeks control over whether that use happens, not simply payment after a label authorizes it.
• Credit: Performers would receive clear attribution for their contributions when recordings featuring their work are used to train AI systems.
• Compensation: Musicians would share in payments generated by AI licensing agreements involving their recordings, giving them a financial stake in those deals.

The record labels cannot pocket profits built on the backs of human artistry while cutting working musicians out of the equation.

Tino Gagliardi, AFM international president

Owning a recording does not settle the pay dispute

The campaign builds on a dispute over two different sets of rights. Record labels may own the copyrights to sound recordings, while the musicians who performed on them retain separate contractual rights to compensation. AFM’s position is that a label’s AI licensing deal does not remove those labor obligations.

That argument is already before a federal court. On June 5, 2026, AFM sued Universal and Warner-affiliated labels, alleging that licensing arrangements involving AI music companies Suno and Udio violated the existing labor contract. The union alleges that recordings featuring its members were authorized for AI training and music generation without required notice or compensation.

At the center is the contract’s “new use” provision: a requirement for additional payments when recordings are repurposed for certain commercial uses. AFM argues that AI-training licenses fall within that protection. Universal and Warner dispute that reading and maintain that their technology agreements do not trigger the compensation obligations the union alleges.

The lawsuit concerns the meaning of the agreement already in force. The campaign also seeks explicit safeguards in the next one. Sony and Hollywood Records are among the campaign’s targets; the ongoing lawsuit described here is against Universal and Warner-affiliated labels.

Public pressure before bargaining resumes

Negotiations for the successor agreement began in January 2026, with additional sessions in March. Talks are scheduled to resume November 3, according to Hypebot. The campaign includes a petition hosted at humanmadehumanpaid.com, aimed at gathering support from musicians, industry professionals and consumers ahead of the bargaining round.

Union members frame the demand as a way to sustain music careers, rather than stop technological development. Producer and AFM member Will Wells said musicians do not want to halt technology’s advance; they want a viable way to keep earning a living as it changes music-making.