By Myrin New – MyrinNew.com | Tech Ethics & AI Insights
“I didn’t read the Terms of Use.”
Neither did most artists. And now they’re furious.
In an age where artificial intelligence is rapidly infiltrating every layer of digital life, one misread—or unread—agreement can place your most valuable asset, your content, directly in the hands of machine learning systems. The recent SoundCloud controversy is a clear example of how overlooking a platform’s Terms of Use can lead to unintended consequences—especially when AI is in the mix.
What Happened with SoundCloud?
In February 2024, SoundCloud quietly updated its Terms of Use, slipping in a clause that read:
“You explicitly agree that your Content may be used to inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence or machine intelligence technologies…”
The change sparked a public outcry—especially among musicians—after AI ethicist Ed Newton-Rex flagged the amendment. Many saw it as a potential Trojan horse, enabling the company to use their work to train AI models without direct consent.
Although SoundCloud responded quickly with statements claiming:
- They’ve never used artist content to train AI.
- The update was intended to clarify internal AI-driven features (like recommendations or fraud detection).
- They do not allow third parties to scrape or use content for training purposes.…the damage was already done.
Why It Matters: AI, Consent, and Control
Whether you’re a musician, writer, designer, or business owner—your content is your capital. Allowing it to be repurposed for training generative AI models without your knowledge isn’t just unfair—it can impact your future earnings, dilute your originality, or even train a system that competes with you.
In SoundCloud’s case, the company added a “no AI” tag for artists to opt-out of AI-driven usage. But by then, the trust gap had widened. Musicians felt blindsided. And it exposed a harsh truth in our tech-driven society:
Terms of Use are no longer fine print—they’re power structures.
The Broader Trend
SoundCloud isn’t alone. Major platforms—from Google to Meta—have faced scrutiny over unclear data practices. But the line between platform functionality (like auto-generated playlists) and AI exploitation (like voice or music cloning) is becoming alarmingly blurry.
As AI tooling becomes more accessible, companies are revisiting their data access rights—and many are rewriting their ToS to protect future use cases, not just current operations.
If you’re not reading these terms, you may be unknowingly licensing your entire creative output to an algorithm.
What You Can Do
Here’s how professionals and creators can protect themselves:
-
- Read Before You Upload
- Especially on platforms where your content is the product.
Look for Opt-Out Features - Use tags or settings like “no AI” where available.
Monitor Terms Regularly - Terms change. Set alerts or use services that flag ToS updates.
- Advocate for Transparent AI Use
- Push platforms to adopt fair, opt-in AI policies.
- Back Up and License Your Work
- Maintain control by using proper licensing frameworks before uploading.
The next era of the internet is one where ownership, data consent, and AI usage must be understood by everyone—not just lawyers. What happened with SoundCloud isn’t an isolated event; it’s a warning shot for all content-driven industries.
If you’re not paying attention to who can use your content—and for what—you may already be training the AI that replaces you.
