AI Claims Kiwi Tune, Musician Demands New Zealand’s Cash Rate Stay Steady as His Beats

At a quiet corner of a Wynyard Street café, a guitarist’s fingers paused over a chord that should have been his own, only to find a humming algorithm humming the same line.

Jake Andrews, a Kiwi musician known for his jangly melodies, says the AI‑generated track that topped U.S. streaming charts was a copy of his 2023 single “Kiwifruit Dreams.” He calls the situation a betrayal of “so much effort for a few clicks of a mouse.”

The music industry’s business side is watching closely. If AI can produce a hit in seconds, record labels may have to rethink royalty rates and licensing agreements, and some analysts warn that the cash rate could see a temporary dip if streaming revenue streams feel threatened.

Meanwhile, at the Bank of New Zealand’s Auckland office, a line of brightly coloured traffic cones has been erected to keep customers from accidentally driving into the building’s revolving door while it processes a surge of royalty‑payment requests.

“Cones are a simple solution for complex problems,” said an unnamed bank staffer, pointing to the orange barriers. The message seems to echo the musician’s frustration: simple tools can sometimes outpace creative intent.

The case has prompted a wave of parody tweets from local artists, one suggesting that AI could replace not just songs but also the cash rate itself – “If it can’t keep a tune in tune, maybe it can keep our rates steady?”

Industry insiders say that, while AI’s role in music creation is growing, the real business question remains: who owns a song that a machine writes? The answer might require a new law, a new chorus, or at least a new set of traffic cones.

In the meantime, Auckland’s musicians and bankers alike are hoping that the next big hit will be a partnership, not a plagiarism, and that the cash rate will stay as predictable as a well‑timed drum beat.