Introduction
Artificial intelligence is all around us whether we realize it or not. Its impact goes beyond what we know as it continues to help make our lives easier and more personalized. But have you ever thought about how it affects an industry as big as music? From creating new experimental tunes to reimagining the classics, AI has a large impact on the music that is produced today. With the demand for music to be made in multiple genres and countless elements that can be combined, it's no wonder why the industry is looking to AI to help create new music. AI in music could revolutionize the music we listen to and unlock potentially new combinations that we have never thought of. For example, with such a high demand for new music many people have created programs that creates background music so that creators have access to affordable new music that fits the mood that they are going for [1]. Moreover, AI has been used to mimic sounds of known musicians. Notably, an AI generated Bach composition, which was indifferentiable by the public [1] from an original Bach piece.
AI Infused Music
But what does this mean for music makers and listeners? Will AI allow us to reach sounds and genres not yet explored, or will it make it so that we’re always listening to the same generic pop beat? These are some things to consider when looking into the impact of AI on the music industry. Currently, AI music composition works with an algorithm that is fed examples of certain music. The AI then creates music that resembles what it was fed [3]. Here’s a fun example of this: the song “Daddy’s Car“ was made through AI composition by Sony’s computer science laboratory music team based in Tokyo Japan. It was made to sound like a Beatles song. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHZ_b05W7o [3]. Many feel that AI in the music industry will open up many new avenues in music production including a “golden era of creativity” as the AI will be able to combine sounds and genres in ways that was unthought of before. This would allow artists to produce music that goes beyond known genres and reach an entirely new level of personalization. Claire. L. Evans from the band YACHTs says that “AI forced us to come up against patterns that have no relationship to comfort. It gave us the skills to break out of our own habits,” inspiringly the use of AI in YACHTs music got them their very first Grammy nomination for best immersive album![1].
On the other hand, the legality around AI produced music is truly obscure. Whether the creator of the algorithm, the AI itself, or the owner of the music that the AI was trained on is the owner of the piece created by the ai continues to create a lot of ambiguity as to how AI will be used going forward. Policy counsel Meredith Rose states “There’s nothing legally requiring you to give the artist any profits from it unless you’re directly sampling,” So what would this mean for established and upcoming artists trying to make their way through the industry? Would this hinder their creative processes? AI could be used to create the next hit pop song by using old popular songs as data and creating a similar composition, thus being able to replace actual artists. Moreover, other issues that may arise include marketing songs as being similar to songs of an artist in order to get more traction. This may result in artists having a difficult time proving that a song is meant to sound like theirs. Unless they know exactly what the AI was trained on, it would be difficult to work backwards as it is very hard to extrapolate the original data that was given to the AI [2].
Conclusion
All in all, there are many positives to having artificial intelligence in the music industry; it helps feed the growing demand of new music in many different genres, and it allows artist to experiment with new sounds and explore never before heard combinations. On the other hand, it brings up serious ambiguities that lie in our legal systems regarding the use of artificial intelligence and intellectual property of artists. Although looking to the future, AI will allow music production to be a lot more widespread and at a lower cost allowing for an age of music that transcends the genres and sounds we know today.
References
[1] Chow, A. R. (2020, February 05). Musicians Using AI to Create Otherwise Impossible New Songs. Retrieved from https://time.com/5774723/ai-music/
[2] Deahl, D. (2019, April 17). We've been warned about AI and music for over 50 years, but no one's prepared. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/17/18299563/ai-algorithm-music-law-copyright-human
[3] Marr, B. (2019, July 09). The Amazing Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming The Music Industry. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/05/the-amazing-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-the-music-industry/?sh=4c585fa55072
