What is the Fair Trade AI program?
Users distributing music with LANDR can opt in to allow their released tracks to be used for training AI models and earn additional revenue based on your contribution. Only distributed tracks with full recording and publishing rights are eligible. LANDR reserves the right to curate the tracks added to the dataset. You can opt out of the program at any time (Unless you were selected for and accepted an upfront recoupable advance payment through a Fair Trade promotion).
If you decide to opt-out, and you have not accepted an upfront recoupable advance payment, your data will be removed from future datasets.
A portion of the revenues generated by the Program will be paid out to participants of the Fair Trade AI Program. That’s recurring revenue every month, similar to how you are paid when distributing your music!
Who can opt into the program?
The program is open to all artists distributing with LANDR who wish to contribute to building our AI-assisted creation tools. Of course, you will be paid for participating by receiving a percentage of sales from the tools and services that make use of your data.
However, it is important to understand that only songs for which you hold 100% of the rights (whether composition or recording rights) will be eligible. For this reason, cover songs are not eligible, nor are any songs represented by a publisher other than yourself. The same applies if you are signed to a record label that owns all or a portion of the master recording. Therefore, if you are signed to a publisher or label, you are likely not eligible to participate in Fair Trade.
LANDR reserves the right to curate eligible tracks added to the dataset, so not all tracks may be selected for the program.
What am I agreeing to when I opt in?
You're licensing your qualifying recordings to LANDR and our AI partners for AI training and the development of AI products. We act as your agent: each partner gets a custom dataset built for their needs, so your music might be in any, all, or none of the datasets we license. In return you earn a pro-rata share of 25% of the net revenue from each dataset your music is part of, based on how many of your recordings are in that dataset relative to everyone's.
Partner deals come in two shapes. Time-limited deals pay recurring royalties for as long as the deal runs, and the dataset gets refreshed at least once a year, which is how opted-out music comes out. Perpetual deals pay once, promptly after we deliver the dataset, and that dataset is never refreshed: the partner keeps it indefinitely. We favor time-limited deals because recurring revenue is better for artists, but some opportunities only exist on perpetual terms, and your music may be included in either kind. More on what that means for opting out below.
Can I choose when to start and stop my participation in the program?
Yes!
You must opt in to participate, and you can opt out at any time–we will then remove you from future datasets. Please note, if you accepted an upfront recoupable advance payment through a Fair Trade AI offer, your music must stay opted in to the Fair Trade AI dataset until the advance is recouped or for a period of 24 months, whichever comes first. If you want to opt out before recouping, that requires repayment and those requests must go through our support team.
Does LANDR get ownership of my music if I participate?
No!
Your music remains 100% yours.
Can I expect regular payments for my participation?
Yes!
Monthly payouts will be made to your LANDR account. If you received an upfront advance through a Fair Trade promotion, this must be recouped before you will see monthly payouts.
What specific elements of my music will be used to train the AI?
AI models learn from the musical elements in your catalog like melody, harmony, rhythm, and the texture of your sounds. They're learning the patterns in music, not copying the music itself.
The model doesn't keep your songs. Your recordings aren't stored inside it, and they can't be pulled back out or played. What the model holds onto is what your music taught it, not the music.
How is the 25% revenue share calculated and allocated to participating artists?
The 25% revenue share is calculated based on the number of tracks each artist contributes to the dataset. For example, if your track is one of 10,000, you will receive 1/10,000th of the 25% revenue, net of direct charges applicable to the exploitation of AI models using the dataset (including 3rd party charges). This model ensures fair and proportional distribution of earnings.
Will I be able to see a breakdown of the revenue generated from my contributions?
Yes!
You can view a breakdown of the revenue, net of direct charges from your contributions through the distribution analytics available in your LANDR account. This transparency ensures you can track earnings accurately.
Does LANDR guarantee that my copyrighted music remains my own and is not misused?
Yes!
You keep full ownership of your music. Opting in doesn't transfer your copyright; it grants us a license to include your recordings in datasets we license to AI partners for training, and you can end that license going forward by opting out, per the terms in the sections below. Your music stays yours.
On misuse: we license your recordings only for AI training and AI product development, only to partners under agreement with us, and only while you're opted in. We don't sell your music or license it outside that scope, and our partner contracts are built to hold that line.
Does LANDR take copyright laws into account for the program?
Yes!
We use industry-standard detection tools to verify that anyone uploading music for training owns the copyright for that music, just as we have done for years with LANDR distribution.
Are protections in place to prevent my music from being used without my permission?
Yes!
LANDR has a robust validation system to verify ownership and publishing rights before including any music in the AI training dataset.
Can I opt-out of the Fair Trade AI Program?
Yes!
Go to your AI settings page at app.landr.com/releases/ai-settings and switch off participation. If you took an advance, when your opt-out takes effect depends on your participation period: your music stays in until the earliest of the advance being fully recouped or two years passing from when you accepted it. Opting out before then means repaying what's left, which can be done by reaching out to our support team.
What actually happens when I opt-out of the program?
Four (4) things:
- We remove your music from our own datasets in the next scheduled update, so it isn't used to build anything new.
- We stop using your music in any new training we start after that removal.
- We never include your music in any new dataset we build or license to a partner going forward.
- Your music is swapped out of time-limited partner datasets at each dataset's next refresh event, and replaced with music from opted-in artists.
Two things opt-out doesn't reach. First, datasets we've already licensed to a partner on a perpetual basis: those are never refreshed, so your music stays in them, and the partner can keep using that dataset indefinitely. Opting out stops your music from going into any new perpetual deal, but it can't pull it back out of one that's already done. Second, AI models that were already trained on your music: a model can't unlearn a recording, so anything trained before you opted out keeps its training intact, and your contribution only comes out if that model is ever retrained from scratch, which may not happen on any set schedule or at all.
If you took an advance, when your opt-out takes effect depends on your participation period: your music stays in until the earliest of the advance being fully recouped or two years passing from when you accepted it. Opting out before then means repaying what's left, which can be done by reaching out to our support team.
Is opting out immediate?
No. Removal happens in stages. Our own datasets update quickly. Time-limited partner datasets update at their next refresh event, which happens at least once a year but can take up to that long depending on the deal's refresh schedule. Perpetual datasets and already-trained models don't update at all. Opting out stops what happens next; it can't rewind what already happened.
What about AI models that were already trained on my music?
A model can't unlearn a recording. Once training happens, your music's influence is baked in, and the only way it comes out is if that model is retrained from scratch without your recordings in the data. Models get retrained on their own schedules, and some may never be. So models trained before your opt-out will stay in use, and we don't guarantee any particular model will be rebuilt by any particular date, or at all.
This isn't a LANDR quirk, it's how machine learning works, and any company telling you otherwise is not being transparent.
Do I still get paid after I opt out?
For time-limited deals, yes: you earn your pro-rata share for as long as your music remains in a dataset or in use, including the window between your opt-out and the refresh that removes you, and including revenue from products built on models trained while you were in. For perpetual deals, you were already paid in full when the deal was done, so there's nothing further owed from those, to you or to us.
I accepted an upfront advance. Can I still opt out?
Yes, but mechanics that are different.. While any of the advance is unrecouped, opt-out and account closure requests go through our support team rather than the settings page. Your participation period ends at the earliest of three things: your advance fully recouping, two years passing from the date you accepted it, or you repaying the remaining balance. So you have two ways out: wait, and your opt-out takes effect when the participation period ends; or leave sooner by contacting support and repaying what's left, at which point your opt-out or account closure takes effect. Repaying early is always your choice, never our demand: we never ask for the advance back and we never come after you for unrecouped amounts out of pocket.
Note that if you reach the two-year mark still unrecouped, your opt-out takes effect, your music exits on the same schedule as any other opt-out, and whatever your music keeps earning from datasets it was already part of goes toward the balance.
What happens if I stop my subscription or delete my LANDR account
If you stop your subscription, you will remain opted in to the Fair Trade AI Program and you will continue earning money from it. Keep in mind that if you leave released content on stores without an active subscription, a distribution maintenance fee applies (the greater of 15% of your monthly distribution income or $4 per month, whichever is greater), deducted from your account balance like any other account fee.
However, if you delete your LANDR account, you will be automatically opted out, and your music will be removed from future datasets. That is unless you accepted an upfront recoupable advance payment, in which case your account must stay live and your music must stay opted in to the Fair Trade AI dataset until the earliest of the advance being fully recouped or two years passing from when you accepted it. Opting out before then means repaying what's left, which can be done by reaching out to our support team.
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