Music to the ears in fighting plagiarism

Spotify is reportedly working on an algorithm that could warn songwriters if their compositions copy elements of other songs, potentially exposing them to plagiarism lawsuits.

Katy Perry, Led Zeppelin, Ed Sheeran, Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams ... it can be hard to keep count of all the plagiarism lawsuits that have tarnished the music industry in recent years.

To tackle the problem, the sector is turning to artificial intelligence (AI) as a potential means of accurately determining when “inspiration” goes too far.

Spotify is working on an algorithm that could let musicians know whether their latest compositions copy parts of existing songs, reports specialist magazine Music Business Worldwide.

Patent applications were apparently filed at the end of last month in the US and Europe for a new technology named Plagiarism Risk Detector and Interface.

The invention is said to analyse so-called “lead sheets” – a kind of musical score for songs denoting melody, chords and sometimes more – to detect whether they copy elements of any other tracks featured on the Spotify platform.

These could be harmonies, sequences of chords or fragments of melody, for example.

After taking into account “a plurality of elements”, the algorithm would then tell the songwriter whether their composition is at risk of copyright infringement.

It could also provide a link to the track resembling the creation analysed by the AI in order to facilitate rewriting.

“Such a tool would allow artists to generate lead sheets more quickly and confidently by detecting and providing visual feedback as to whether any aspect of the work has a probability of being deemed plagiaristic,” reads the Spotify patent, quoted in Music Business Worldwide.

Other researchers are working on algorithms that could spare artists the pain of discovering their latest tune might be a bit too heavily inspired by the work of a fellow musician. –