Warner Music’s Robert Kyncl Doubles Down on AI Expectations

Warner Music head Robert Kyncl, who attended the Amplify Music Investment Summit remotely. Photo Credit: Mike Shaw/Amplify Music Investment Summit

Is the music industry leaving value on the table and setting itself back by failing to embrace generative AI? Warner Music head Robert Kyncl believes so, and he’s doubling down on the position as his company leans into its Suno partnership.

The Warner Music Group (WMG) CEO elaborated on his AI stance during the Amplify Music Investment Summit in New York. DMN was on hand for the event, which, unsurprisingly in light of its name, delivered in-depth comments from Kyncl (who participated remotely) and WMG global head of strategy Lisa Yang about the major’s catalog-acquisition strategy.

However, the commercial opportunities and pitfalls of AI were also a key focus during the relevant sit down, which CNBC’s Jon Fortt moderated. Many are well aware of Warner Music’s comparative openness to generative AI; that the company opted to license Suno, which is still being sued by Universal Music and Sony Music, more or less sums things up.

Similarly, it’s not a secret that the former YouTube chief business officer Kyncl is an advocate of inking AI partnerships in general – provided IP protections are in place, compensation is on the table, and individual professionals can decide whether to participate.

Not as frequently discussed: The possibility that the industry’s “very defensive behavior” in the early AI era could be delaying the inevitable and fueling “value destruction.”

Kyncl used those terms when offering his take on the parallels between the music world’s response to the advent of the internet (as well as piracy) and now AI.

“My point, and I’ve said this publicly multiple times, is that the industry had reacted far too slowly at that time,” Kyncl communicated. “It was on its heels, defensive, and because of that, it took really until 2014 for the streaming services to really take off – for a company like Warner getting to breakeven.

“There was just a lot of value destruction basically for well over a decade. And it was just caused by very defensive behavior and slow movement forward,” he continued.

Of course, the subsequent rise of streaming and the subscription-based revenue model is common knowledge, and many know that catalog works (as opposed to new releases) now account for a substantial portion of on-demand listening.

Put differently, does generative AI have the potential to unlock massive revenue growth? More importantly, will it do so in practice without leaving actual musicians behind? Time will tell – especially given ongoing legal battles against artificial intelligence giants and the conspicuous absence of Spotify’s much-anticipated AI products.

But at present, reservations of the walled-garden proponents Universal Music and Sony Music aside, Kyncl remains adamant that if harnessed, the unprecedented technology can act as “an incredible value creation opportunity.”

“I cannot stress more what an incredible value creation opportunity AI is for us,” he said. “I can’t imagine another one. It’s just, it’s very transformative. So we have to do it right. We cannot wait the way the industry did 25 years ago, and we’ve got to chart the path and grab this tiger by the tail.”