Grammy winner Arooj Aftab says musicians should be paid when AI trains on their music

Arooj Aftab wants artists paid for AI at 2 moments: when it trains on their music, and every time it uses that training to make something new.

The Grammy-winning singer and composer made the case in 2 Instagram stories on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, as Dawn Images reported the next day. Both stories reshared slides from a statement on GenAI music by United Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW), a US organization of musicians and music workers.

Aftab, who is Pakistani-American, won Best Global Music Performance for “Mohabbat” at the 2022 Grammy Awards. She was the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy.

What did Arooj Aftab say about AI training on her music?

Her second story carried the argument, typed in her own shorthand:

“I/the artist should be paid bec AI has already used my music to train itself, aka usage. And I/the artist should be paid everytime it uses what it learned from my music to make new music, aka derivative work.”

So that’s 2 payments. The first is for training, a use of her work she says has already happened. The second is owed every time an AI makes a new track from what it learned.

Her first story, written over UMAW’s slide on labeling, explained why this reaches musicians who never touch an AI tool:

“

Even if you don't use AI to make music - it is going to use your music to make AI music!! So let's get the rules right and get on with it.

If you missed the stories, The Express Tribune published screenshots of both on October 22.

Which United Musicians and Allied Workers demands did Arooj Aftab share?

The slides come from UMAW’s statement on GenAI music and streaming platforms, published on October 12, 2026. It defines GenAI music as music fully created by AI trained on existing work without consent, and it makes 3 demands:

• GenAI music must be labeled by every level of the industry, from software developers and labels to distributors and retailers.
• Streaming platforms must not accept GenAI tracks.
• Human artists must be paid fairly, through the Living Wage for Musicians Act.

Aftab reshared the first and the third. Neither of her stories carried the second.

The Living Wage for Musicians Act is a bill that Rep. Rashida Tlaib reintroduced on September 29, 2025, written with UMAW. It would add a small fee to streaming subscriptions and tax the platforms’ non-subscription revenue, then pay artists from a non-profit fund based on their monthly streams.

Tlaib’s announcement is about streaming pay and doesn’t mention AI. The “only human recording artists” condition comes from UMAW’s slide.

How does Arooj Aftab’s AI pay ask compare with the AFM and Björn Ulvaeus?

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus splits it differently. In a July keynote, he argued AI deals should pay for training data and not chase individual outputs. Aftab wants both: pay for the training, and pay for what comes out of it.

Nordic listeners back the training half. In the Nordic Digital Music Survey 2026, 74% said composers and songwriters should be paid when their music trains AI.

And Aftab posted on the same Tuesday the American Federation of Musicians launched Human Made, Human Paid. The AFM wants consent, credit and compensation whenever musicians’ work trains AI or generates music. The AFM is a separate group from UMAW, and its campaign is aimed at the major labels. It takes that ask into talks with UMG, Sony, Warner and Hollywood Records on November 3, 2026.