AI is a big topic in many industries, but it’s especially sensitive in music and the arts. Some people are worried that they will lose their employment, while others are concerned that the value of human creativity will be eroded even further and that they will be left behind as technology once again renders entire business models outdated.
Many artificial intelligence applications have entered the market following the mainstream integration of tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E 2. The most prominent of the new crop of music AI generators is Google-backed MusicLM. MusicLM, like ChatGPT, can generate music from written prompts and may just change things in the future.
Artificial intelligence is already making inroads into mainstream music. Fans have chosen to employ AI to make their favorite musicians sing ‘covers’ of popular songs. Ariana Grande’s convincing covers of hits like ‘Telephone’ and ‘Levitating’ are notable examples. Rihanna covered ‘Cuff It’ when other fans hopped on board.
On the other hand, people who create AI covers have a thing for Drake, which has resulted in a now-viral cover of the rapper singing the K-pop hit ‘OMG.’ Another Drake version of Ice Spice’s ‘Munch’ went viral last week and was instantly criticized by the rapper in an Instagram story.
On the other hand, AI technology has begun to frighten the music industry. Several copyright issues plagued the music industry during ChatGPT’s initial boom. Universal Songs Group (UMG) has demanded that streaming giants Spotify and Apple Music ban AI access to their catalogs, stating that using artists’ songs signed to UMG to train artificial intelligence violates the creator’s rights.
Integrating artificial intelligence technology with music may appear to be a smart concept. In reality, though, things may not go so well. While using AI in music can revitalize the industry, it also has the potential to introduce a slew of complications and infringements.
