Lately, we’ve noticed a few new “AI-powered” contract generation platforms have appeared, each promising to revolutionise the music business. The sales pitch is familiar: instant contracts, smart automation, and creative peace of mind at the click of a button. But look a little closer and many of these tools are still just fill-in-the-blanks generators dressed up with a chatbot and a .ai domain name.
At Songpact, we are excited by the potential of AI, but we are also realistic about where the technology is today. Because when it comes to music contracts, context, accuracy, and fairness still matter more than buzzwords.
The limits of AI in contract generation
Large language models like ChatGPT and Harvey are remarkable at generating text, but precision is not their strength. They can misinterpret key terms, overlook regional variations, and struggle to capture the commercial nuance that sits behind every music deal. In a music rights agreement, those subtleties are not cosmetic; they determine ownership, control, and long-term income.
AI systems also hallucinate; confidently generating plausible but false information. In a legal context, that risk is more than inconvenient. A hallucinated clause or misapplied precedent can have serious financial and reputational consequences for an artist or label.
AI also lacks consistency. Ask the same question twice and you might get two different answers. In contract generation, that level of unpredictability is unacceptable. And even when AI produces something that looks professional, that does not mean it is enforceable. True reliability requires human interpretation, input, and review.
These limitations explain why many “AI-first” contract generation platforms fall back on basic templates. They are efficient, but they are also generic, better suited to tick-box form-filling than to the complex web of rights and obligations that underpin real music deals.
The “AI-washing” problem
There is a growing trend to label anything with a chatbot as “AI-powered.” It has become the shortcut to sounding innovative. But real AI in music contracts would do far more than autocomplete a form. It would understand royalty flows, interpret copyright law across territories, flag potential conflicts, and learn from prior negotiations. That level of sophistication does not yet exist in most products on the market.
The result is that many tools marketed as intelligent are really interactive templates. They can be helpful for simple scenarios, but they do not yet replace judgement, negotiation, or creative legal reasoning.
Where Songpact stands
We believe AI can make contracts faster, clearer, and more accessible, but it must work with human expertise, not instead of it. That is why we focus on intelligent document design and workflow automation built around real music law experience, not just machine output.
Songpact’s technology is not a form filler. It reflects how real deals are done, where small details in definitions, royalty calculations, and termination rights make all the difference. Our Q&A negotiator is a good example of this. It uses smart automation to ask the right questions, tailor contracts to each artist’s circumstances, and remove unnecessary complexity without sacrificing accuracy or control.
Crucially, AI today cannot yet judge fairness. It can produce something that looks like a contract, but it cannot balance the interests of artists, managers, and labels in a way that feels equitable to all sides. Songpact’s goal has always been to create a set of fair and balanced agreements that everyone in the music ecosystem can rely on. A consistent, trusted benchmark for how modern music contracts should work.
We will continue to integrate AI where it genuinely adds value, such as drafting assistance for highly bespoke terms, agreement summaries, and educational tools for creators. But we are not “going all in” until the technology can deliver the level of reliability, transparency, and fairness that the industry deserves.
The future of music contracts will absolutely involve AI. The question is not whether, but how. And for us, the answer is clear: combine smart technology with even smarter people.
That is how contracts become fairer, faster, and genuinely future-proof.
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