College of Arts & Sciences
Music Sustainability Initiative
Music Sustainability Initiative

Program

FRIDAY, April 10

Alumni House, 3604 O St NW, Washington, DC

8:30 Continental Breakfast/Registration

9:00 Event opener

9:30 Production, Platforms, and Mediated Agency
Chair: Mary Madden (Georgetown University)

“Mediated Agency in Music: Community Authorship, Generative AI Architectures, and Algorithmic Extractivism,” Brandon Woo Snyder (UC Irvine) 

“SUNO, AI, and the Continuing Inevitable Decline of America’s Production Infrastructure: Redefining Music, Authorship, Collaboration and the Creative Potential of Future Generations,” Scott LeGere (Augsburg University) 

“Musical Agency and Intention in the Age of AI: The Role of the Music Producer,” Atticus Reynolds and Nate Schwartz (University of California at Irvine) 

11:15 Whose Song Is It Anyway? Ownership in the Age of AI
Chairs: Kristelia Garcia and Isabella (Georgetown Law Center)

Sy Damle (lead counsel for Udio), Romel Murphy (manager and lawyer for Xania Monet), Jeffrey Harleston (General Counsel at Universal), Jalyce Mangum (US Copyright Office)

12:45 Lunch Break / Music Fair

2:00 What does AI Sound Like?
Chair: Benjamin J. Harbert (Georgetown University)

Nikki Jones (Xania Monet), CJ Carr (Dadabots)

3:45 Critical Perspectives on Music, AI, and Copyright Policy
Chair: Derek Baron (Georgetown University)

Eric Drott (University of Texas, Austin), Olufunmilayo B. Arewa (George Mason University), Matthew Blackmar (University of Indiana, Bloomington)

5:15 Keynote Talk: Jenny Toomey in conversation with Dessa

6:15 End of day reception

SATURDAY, April 11

Mortara Center for International Studies, 3600 N St NW, Washington, DC 20057

9:00 Continental Breakfast/Registration

9:30 AI, Heritage, and Ethical Futures
Chair: Benjamin J. Harbert (Georgetown University)

“Algorithmic Aesthetics and Sonic Labour: AI, Cinema Composition, and Live Generativity in India’s Music Ecologies,” Mayankdutt Kaushik (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Seerat Kaur Minhas) 

“Heritage Algorithmic Mimicking (HAM): A critical evaluation of Ethics of Authorship and Ownership of AI Compositions based on Indigenous Musical Idioms,” Omotolani Ebenezer Ekpo (Federal University Wukari, Nigeria)

“Access or Extraction?: Intellectual Property and AI Training in Cultural Heritage Archives,” Andrea Decker (American Folklife Center, Library of Congress)

11:15 Sustainability, Dignity and Labor in the age of AI
Chair: Jay Hammond (Georgetown University)

Liz Pelly (independent journalist, New York University), Max Alper (New York Film Academy, Circular Ruin Studios) and Joey LaNeve DeFrancesco (United Musicians and Allied Workers)