They Teach AI Music at Music School Now...

Why It Matters

The controversy raises business and legal risks for Berklee—potential conflicts of interest, copyright exposure, and reputational damage—as music schools weigh whether to teach tools that investors design to monetize unlicensed creative work. How institutions address those conflicts will influence artist livelihoods, curriculum standards, and the broader market for AI-generated music.

Summary

Students and faculty at Berklee College of Music have protested the school’s adoption of generative-AI tools after a songwriting course used Suno to compose music and its instructor, Ben Camp, revealed ties to the company. Reporting alleges deeper institutional links: Suno investor and board member Antonio Rodriguez previously worked with Berklee president Jim Lucchese at Echo Nest, and Berklee plans partnership with Suno at an upcoming conference. Critics say the class risks student plagiarism and normalizes a model—favored by some investors—that trains on unlicensed recordings and sells derivative output by subscription. The dispute has exposed tensions between vocational music training, copyright ethics, and university-industry relationships.

Original Description

Berklee College of Music now teaches classes in AI songwriting, and that's a really dumb idea.

0:00 Intro

0:43 Student Backlash

2:53 Berklee President’s ties to Suno

4:01 “book burning”

5:42 Problem 1 - Branding

8:17 Problem 2 - Berklee is out of touch

11:03 Problem 3 - “AI Music” and Suno

14:11 Problem 4 - People really don’t like AI music

Adam