The fact that you need to obtain the rights to samples you use has never been about any meaningful or harmful form of 'stealing' in the slightest. It was about harming hip hop and those who created it. Sampling and interpolation is a key part of many forms of music, and is a beautiful craft in and of itself. Restricting it from the outside for reasons of profit (usually completely detached from either end of the actual artistry) has never protected anyone's IP in a way that preserves and advances the art form. It 100% holds the art form back, and does nothing else of merit.
Generative music is not using samples - just as a musician who learns a song on guitar, say wonderwall and then writes a hey there Delilah is not sampling.
Like we don’t need a (sample priced) license to listen to songs, AI should be able to use regular music subscriptions to listen to music and create new music.
This may eventually result in regular music subscriptions being priced closer to sample pricing.
