About Me
I am Dr Rachael Drury, a researcher, lecturer, writer, policy advisor, and professional violinist specialising in generative artificial intelligence (AI), copyright, and the music industries. My work spans higher education, research, policy, and public engagement through my roles as University Teacher in Music Industry and Performance at the University of Liverpool, MusicFutures Research Associate, and Senior AI Researcher and AI Policy Advisor at the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM).
I was awarded my PhD by the University of Liverpool in 2025. My doctoral research explored the impact of generative AI on the UK music industry and on music creators, with particular attention to the legal and economic frameworks governing copyright, authorship, licensing, and the future of creators’ rights. My work sits at the intersection of law, music industry studies, and technology policy, and is driven by a wider interest in how emerging technologies are reshaping creative labour, cultural value, and the protection of human creativity.
Alongside my research, I work across teaching, policy engagement, and public commentary. I have taught in higher education on topics including copyright, contracts, and the contemporary music industries, and I am particularly interested in helping students connect legal and policy debates with real-world industry practice. Through my role as Senior AI Researcher and AI Policy Advisor at the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), I also work extensively in policy and advocacy on the implications of generative AI for musicians and the wider creative industries, including direct engagement with government departments and policymakers such as the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
My research and writing examine the challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence presents for musicians, composers, songwriters, and the wider creative sector. This includes questions of copyright reform, transparency, text and data mining, authorship, remuneration, and the broader cultural and economic consequences of AI-generated content. I am the author of Brave New World? Justice for Creators in the Age of GenAI, ISM’s groundbreaking cross-sector report on the impact of generative AI on the UK’s creative workforce. Drawing on findings from more than 10,000 UK creators, the report highlights the effects of job displacement and income loss across the creative industries, as well as the growing concerns surrounding digital replicas and data scraping, setting the case for enforceable protections for human creators. Across both my academic and policy work, I am committed to ensuring that technological development does not come at the expense of creative workers, and to exploring how legal and industry frameworks might evolve to support a fairer future.
Alongside my academic and policy work, I am also a professional violinist. My background as a practising musician informs much of my research, particularly my interest in the lived realities of creative work and the relationship between artistic practice, labour, and rights. I have enjoyed a varied freelance career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player, pit musician, and session player, performing with ensembles and artists including the Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Karl Jenkins, Tasmin Little, Katherine Jenkins, Stewart Copeland, David Braid, Ministry of Sound Classical and Haçienda Classical.
I regularly contribute to public and professional debates on AI, copyright, and the future of the creative industries through speaking, writing, policy engagement, and research-led advocacy. I hold an MA in Music Industry Studies with distinction from the University of Liverpool and was awarded the IASPM Andrew Goodwin Memorial Prize in 2021. Across all aspects of my work, I am committed to ensuring that technological change supports, rather than undermines, human creativity.