SoundCloud changed its terms of use in February 2024 to allow uploaded music to be used for AI training. AI copyright activist Ed Newton-Rex spotted the change and said that users were not informed. In a statement, SoundCloud said it does not train AI models with artist content, does not build its own AI tools, and blocks third-party scraping. It said AI is only used internally for things like recommendations, fraud detection, and content sorting. Artists keep control of their work, and all AI use follows existing license deals. However, the statement does not clearly rule out general AI training.

Ad
Support our independent, free-access reporting. Any contribution helps and secures our future. Support now:
Bank transfer
Matthias is the co-founder and publisher of THE DECODER, exploring how AI is fundamentally changing the relationship between humans and computers.
Join our community
Join the DECODER community on Discord, Reddit or Twitter - we can't wait to meet you.