Zeros

For those of us who still remember saving up for vinyl, reading liner notes, and arguing about who really wrote that bridge, the latest debate between artificial intelligence companies and record labels can feel… exhausting. The so-called AI walled gardens compromise is being floated as a kind of legal test balloon between major tech firms and record companies. The basic idea? Instead of AI systems scraping the open internet freely for songs, they would operate inside licensed environments — controlled databases where music is provided by rights holders under negotiated terms. In theory, everyone wins: labels get paid, AI companies get clean data, and courts get fewer lawsuits. In reality, it’s more complicated. Major labels like Universal Music Group , Sony Music Entertainment , and Warner Music Group have already shown they’re willing to go to court to protect catalogs. Their argument is straightforward: if an AI model trains on copyrighted recordings withou...