Jorge Brea says the bigger threat from AI is not just more music, but more companies built without the rights, compliance, and fraud controls distribution now demands.
AI-generated music is only part of the problem. The deeper risk, argues Symphonic CEO Jorge Brea, is that AI has made it cheap to launch a music company that looks legitimate on the surface but lacks the infrastructure to do the job.
In an MBW Views op-ed published September 10, 2026, Brea says the industry has spent years worrying about what happens when technology makes creation easier. This time, he says, the pressure is landing on the businesses that sit between creators and streaming platforms.
Creation is getting cheaper. So is the illusion of readiness.
Brea frames AI as the next step in a long line of technology shifts that lowered the barrier to making and distributing music. Affordable recording gear changed the game. Production software changed it again. Streaming opened the door for independent artists and labels to reach global audiences without the old gatekeepers.
Each shift brought the same fears: too much music, weaker quality, a flooded market. The industry absorbed those shocks. More creators got in. The system held.
AI, Brea says, is different because it can drive the cost of making a track close to zero. That could push far more music into the ecosystem than the industry has ever handled. Some of it will be legitimate. Some of it will be designed to exploit weak points in the chain.
The question, he writes, is not whether more music arrives. It is whether the industry can keep its standards while both music and music companies become easier to create.
Distribution is where the pressure will show up first
Brea’s central warning is aimed at distribution businesses, DSPs, rights administrators, and the technology partners that connect them. In his view, these companies are no longer just moving files and showing dashboards. They are deciding whether the ecosystem remains trustworthy.
That means the unglamorous parts of the business matter more than ever: rights ownership, platform rules, content verification, payment compliance, takedowns, metadata, royalty processing, and fraud detection. If those systems are weak, a polished front end can hide a business that is not ready for the responsibility it has taken on.
He says AI makes that risk worse by giving bad actors more ways to move quickly. They can generate large volumes of music, imitate artists, spread activity across accounts, and probe for gaps in the system. A company built on speed and trust alone will not last long under that kind of pressure.
For Brea, the lesson is simple: distribution is not a software skin. It is an operational discipline.
Access to DSPs should be earned, not assumed
Brea also argues that identity verification and account review need to be treated as core distribution functions, not back-office extras. Knowing who is delivering music, who controls the rights, and how accounts are connected is basic risk management. Without that foundation, platforms and partners end up absorbing problems that should have been caught earlier.
He extends that logic to direct access to DSPs. A direct relationship with a major platform, he says, should come with real scrutiny. New companies can still enter the market, but access to the underlying music ecosystem should be earned through operational readiness.
That leaves room for innovation, but not shortcuts. Brea says new businesses should build on the foundation laid by companies that have spent years on compliance, account review, catalog controls, fraud detection, support processes, and platform relationships. The opportunity is in better artist experiences, specialized markets, and communities that need more attention — not in skipping the hard parts.
The next fight is about what happens after upload
Brea says the streaming era was about getting more music onto more services and making access easier for independent creators. The next phase, he argues, has to focus on what protects catalogs after they are uploaded.
That means collecting accurate information before a release goes live, asking artists to disclose AI involvement in a way platforms can understand, and watching for suspicious activity before revenue is reversed or catalogs are suspended. It also means sharing knowledge across the industry so bad actors cannot simply move from one company to the next.
The future of music, in Brea’s view, will not be decided by volume alone. It will depend on who is allowed to handle the music, how carefully that access is controlled, and whether the industry is willing to treat infrastructure as seriously as creativity.
