Tech Focus: AI & Production Music -Many Benefits for Broadcast Sports, but Uncertainty ContinuesLegal/copyright issues are major obstacle to AI's widespread on-air and in-venue useBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Artificial intelligence is a divisive technology. For broadcast sports, particularly for music used on-air and in venues, it is both embraced and eyed suspiciously.
For instance, former Turner Sports VP Tom Sahara, SVP, production technology, Quintar, a spatial-experience developer, has cited AI's positives, including assisting audio teams by monitoring multiple audio parameters, such as signal levels and routing. However, he cautions about the technology's propensity for generating digital hallucinations.
Similarly, Karl Malone, senior director, audio engineering, NBC Sports and Olympics, is optimistic about AI's potential in automating routine tasks, such as some types of submixing, but with a caveat: as long as there is someone dedicated to the audio design of the production leading it and not using it as a set and forget,' because the forgetting' part is where we can run into problems.
Music, which plays a huge role in all sports, both on the air and on the field, is where much of the controversy is manifest - from creation to playback. And nowhere is it felt more than at the various companies that generate and/or license thousands of music tracks every year to teams, leagues, broadcasters, and streamers, providing the underscores and themes not only for games but for entire productions.
The Human TouchProduction-music companies - many of the largest count sports entities as major clients - are aware of the legal and social sensitivities around the topic.
As far as we can tell, says Ron Mendelsohn, CEO/executive producer, Megatrax, our clients still prefer music produced by humans rather than music generated by machines, especially when the legal rights and copyrights to that music are so questionable. Several clients have asked us to verify that our music is not AI-generated. It's highly problematic, he adds, that AI-generated music often bases training on copyrighted content.
Another issue is that AI-generated music itself is not entitled to copyright protection. In the U.S., works created entirely by artificial intelligence are not eligible for copyright protection because the U.S. Copyright Act requires human authorship. (Copyright duration is based on the author's lifespan, which courts and the Copyright Office have decided implies a requirement for human authorship.) Purely AI-generated music, therefore, can be refused copyright registration by the Copyright Office. On the other hand, AI-assisted music, for which a human provides significant creative input and control over the output, may be eligible for protection, at least on the copyrightable human-authored portions.
The ProblemCopyright owners have accused the AI sector of using their vast catalogs as uncompensated training grounds for AI music. According to international music-publishing trade association ICMP, some of the world's biggest technology companies - Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, X - have scraped copyright-protected music to train generative-AI systems. According to extensive evidence the association provided to Billboard, that has included songs by the Beatles, Mariah Carey, The Weeknd, Beyonc , Ed Sheeran, and Bob Dylan.
ICMP describes such unlicensed use of digital music as taking place on a global and highly extensive scale. It further asserts that the scope of the training is larger than previously acknowledged.
The problem is widespread across all media. It's also costly: artificial-intelligence company Anthropic has reportedly agreed to pay at least $1.5 billion to settle a copyright-infringement lawsuit over its use of pirated books to train large-language models (LLMs).
APM's Matthew Gutknecht: We will use [AI] to help people save time finding our music, but we will not be using it to create derivative works from existing copyrights.
APM Music - which represents catalogs for industry giants Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group and works with the MLB, NHL, and other sports entities - is understandably cautious on the topic. According to Matthew Gutknecht, VP, sports entertainment, APM, none of the content in the APM catalog is used for AI training.
(Both Sony Music and Universal Music Group, along with Warner Records, are suing AI-music generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that they used vast amounts of copyrighted music without authorization to train their AI models, which can then create similar works. Many in the industry would like to see a workable AI-licensing model emerge, but, as a recent article in Billboard points out, What would that even look like? given the legal complexity of the issue.)
We will use [AI] for audio identification to help people save time finding our music, Gutknecht emphasizes, but we will not be using it to create any kind of derivative works from existing copyrights.
The Bright Side
Stephen Arnold Music's Whitney Arnold: It can be a positive creative tool. We're firmly in the AI as a tool' camp at the moment.
Others, however, see potential benefits for AI-generated production music. Whitney Arnold, president, music services, Stephen Arnold Music, says it is definitely on our radar. We've found practical applications for AI-generated music as an ideation tool. He notes that a client recently sent the company AI-generated vocal treatments to aurally illustrate various moods and styles that the client might wish to pursue.
He concedes that, although AI-generated content can hit the right musical notes, it consistently falls short on
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
Tech Focus: AI & Production Music -Many Benefits for Broadcast Sports, but Uncertainty ContinuesLegal/copyright issues are major obstacle to AI's widespread on-air and in-venue useBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
