R.E.M.

Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry, R.E.M. built the template for American alternative rock — jangling guitars, cryptic lyrics, and a two-decade run from college-radio cult act to stadium headliners with “Losing My Religion” and “Everybody Hurts.” The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and amicably disbanded in 2011.

A defunct band defends its catalog

R.E.M. was among the more striking names on the April 2024 Artist Rights Alliance open letter — a band that had not existed for over a decade signing alongside active stars like Billie Eilish and Pearl Jam. The letter called on AI developers and platforms to “cease the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists” and warned that AI trained on artists’ work without permission threatens to dilute the royalty pools working musicians depend on.

The signature fits a long pattern: R.E.M. has policed unauthorized use of its music for decades, repeatedly demanding politicians stop playing its songs at rallies. For a retired band, the catalog is the legacy — and AI models that can generate endless Stipe-adjacent vocals from that catalog, without consent or compensation, are a direct claim on it.