According to news breaking this week, "Berklee College of Music has released a new study, In Sync: Music and Video 2026—Video Creators, Musicians and the Age of AI, the first to explore the economics of videos and the impact of AI from both the video creator and musician perspectives. More than 1,000 video creators, musicians, brand marketers, and music supervisors were surveyed about how they choose, source, license, and produce music for video content across social media. The study reveals video has become essential to music careers, with 75.9% of respondents believing it directly shapes career outcomes and 74.8% reporting pressure to produce it alongside their music. However, many musicians struggle to monetize this work: 36.9% cite at least one licensing or rights-management barrier, with cost, confusion, and inconsistent platform rules as the top obstacles."
"The report also confirms that when creators and musicians are sourcing music for their videos, social platforms have replaced traditional industry libraries," a statement reads. "The top three sourcing channels are not dedicated music libraries: 45.5% save sounds from TikTok and Instagram, 41.4% use the YouTube Audio Library, and 34.6% use the native library inside their editing app. Generative AI tools are also emerging as one option among several for creators, used by 19% of respondents for music sourcing. The study also shows that AI use is distributed across many parts of the workflow, from ideation and technical assistance to lyric generation, mastering, mixing, and finished audio, while respondents also report meaningful concerns about quality, ethics, rights, and audience perception."
“This finding reflects a tension we’re seeing across music: the technology industry often talks about AI adoption as inevitable, while students and emerging artists are asking deeper questions about voice, trust, and creative agency," Mark Ethier, Executive Director of BEATL, told MC. "BEATL can help bridge that gap by bringing the student and artist perspective into conversations about how these tools are developed, understood, and used.”
Ethier continued: “Video creation is now a core part of building a music career, and AI use is growing as creators face increasing pressure to produce more content on faster timelines. Berklee's role is to ensure artists remain at the center of these changes by equipping students to understand new technologies, make informed creative and ethical decisions, navigate evolving licensing landscapes, and build sustainable careers grounded in their rights and values.”
Key results highlighted below, directly from the Berklee study. Find the full report here.
Video Is Now Central to Many Music Careers
- 75.3% of musician-respondents say they have felt pressure to produce video content alongside their music in the past 12 months.
- 75.9% believe artists who actively create video and social content have different career outcomes.
- 83.7% choose a trending sound before shaping video content, flipping the traditional creative process on its head.
Social Platforms Are Replacing Traditional Music Discovery
Respondents find music where they already spend their attention, not where the music industry has historically directed them. When respondents look for music for a video, the top three sources are not dedicated music libraries.
- 45.5% save sounds from social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
- 41.4% use the YouTube Audio Library.
- 34.6% use the native music library inside their editing app (Premiere, Adobe Express, CapCut, and similar).
- 30% pull from a personal music library they already own.
- 19% use generative AI music tools, underscoring how AI has emerged as an option for creators.
Copyright, Licensing, and Sync Skills are a Clear Barrier
The literacy required for musicians to monetize their work through licensing is one of the weakest skills the sample holds - and a longstanding industry challenge that needs to be addressed. It is also the skill that would most directly close the gap with the video creators looking to use their music.
- 86.6% of all respondents - mostly video creators - face barriers when trying to use popular or recognizable music in their videos.
- Top obstacles include:
- Cost (42.9%), licensing is too confusing (33.6%), inconsistent platform rules (32.9%), copyright strikes or Content ID claims (32.3%)
- Among musicians:
- 36.9% say copyright registration and clearance is too complex
- 31.4% don’t know the right platforms to monetize their music
- 15.8% don’t know how to pitch music for sync opportunities.
Music and Video Creators are Using Assistive and Generative AI for Music in Meaningful Numbers
For Musicians specifically, assistive AI tools are widely used in production, and creative applications account for a meaningful share of finished work:
- 32.8% use assistive AI for mastering or mix assistance (LANDR, iZotope, etc.)
- 32.5% use AI to generate initial ideas, melodies, or reference tracks that are later reworked
- 31.4% of musicians use AI tools for stem separation, vocal isolation, or cleanup on existing recordings
- 30.9% use AI tools for lyric generation
- 26.2% use AI for full backing tracks in finished work
- 25.4% use AI for visual or cover-art generation to accompany music releases
- 17.5% experiment with AI tools but don't use them in work they release
More-Established Creators are More Likely to use AI-generated Music
For Musicians and Video Creators, AI usage varies by career stage, with earlier-career creators more likely to avoid AI and more established creators more likely to use it.
- Creators “Just Starting Out” avoid AI-generated music in video at 25.5% and use AI-generated music in video (any way) at 55.6%
- Creators “Full-Time” avoid AI-generated music in video at 5.7% and use AI-generated music in video in video (any way) at 91.5%
Methodology:
Participants were sourced from several places to generate a diverse sample. First, the survey study opportunity was posted in dozens of online public groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Groups served musicians, video creators, or a mix of both. Two additional online recruiting platforms were used: Respondent.io and Pollfish. All participants had to apply for the study and meet screening criteria to qualify. Eligible participants were invited to complete the main survey and receive a $5 honorarium for their feedback.
This project had an intended sample size of 1,000 (final number of participants, (n = 1,003) with the following distribution by Current Role:
- Video Creator: Goal (50%), Actual (51.9%)
- Musician: Goal (40%), Actual (36.5%)
- Both Video Creator and Musician (“Both Equally”): Goal (2.5%), Actual (4.2%)
- Brand/Marketing: Goal (5%), Actual (5.5%)
- Music Supervision: Goal (2.5%), Actual (1.9%)
This study was conducted by Praxia Insights, a global research organization specializing in large-scale survey projects. Study design, data collection, analysis, and reporting was led by Praxia Insights to ensure an unbiased approach to the topic of discovery. Participants were not informed of the underlying client during data collection, supporting unbiased response. Adobe supported this study but did not influence respondent recruitment, survey responses, or the independent analysis conducted by Praxia Insights.
Additional notes about the methodology are included in the full report.
