What’s inside?
In the highly competitive world of music production, artists are being faced with new challenges brought on by AI technology. Musicians and industry professionals are learning to grapple with how AI can reshape the creative process and what the future of the music industry might look like. AI has broad implications for music creation, marketing, and viewership that challenge current understandings of intellectual property. The presence of AI offers new prospects for creators and music fanatics alike, while also reimagining previously established norms in the music industry.
There is a plethora of online tools available that use AI to help artists come up with new ideas or polish existing compositions.
Tools like Landr[1] and eMastered[2] utilize AI to level and master mixes, adjusting the volume and adding stereo enhancements to make tracks flow seamlessly together. This editing process previously relied on fine-tuning and judgements made by the artists themselves.
Other platforms like AIVA[3] allow artists to make entire compositions from scratch by selecting genre, instruments, tempo, and other features. Even some platforms allow you to generate lyrics and voice alongside instrumentals.
Artists have also been using AI to combat writer’s block by running off ideas created by AI assistants, whether it be for melodies or lyrics. Lyric writing can be done using a variety of platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Many have credited the wide availability of AI tools for democratizing the music industry, allowing entry-level creators access to tools and techniques previously only available to highly experienced or well-established musicians. Musicians who have advocated for these tools find that they add a lot of convenience and simplicity to the composition process, expediting steps that previously required a lot of time and skill.
The use of AI in music production has brought on a debate about how credit, both commercial and artistic, should be given to artists who use AI assistance in their music. Firstly, companies have faced issues around the ethics of how their technology is being created and trained. AI chatbots rely on machine learning, which involves feeding their algorithms previously existing works that are then used to “teach” the computer how to compose new music and ideas. Some have argued that artists whose works are used to train algorithms should be given credit for products created by those algorithms. Another issue is whether artists have consented to having their content used to train the LLMs. Some other concerns include the ability of AI to replicate an artist’s music style and vocals, leading to cases of copyright infringement and the creation of music that capitalizes on an artist’s existing platform without involving them in the creative process.
Legal precedent which has defined and shaped the music industry up until now is maladapted to handle these new challenges brought on by AI tools. Copyright allows an artist to claim legal ownership of a composition, as well as the sole right to license and redistribute said composition. In certain cases, these laws have been used to go after works produced by AI that closely mimic existing compositions. Publicity rights also protect peoples’ names and likenesses from being used for commercial purposes without their consent. These laws are most relevant in cases where AI has been used to recreate an artist’s style or voice, especially when the work is then used commercially without association with the artist. However, these laws fall short of navigating many grey areas brought on by AI tools. There is no precedent for how artists should be compensated if their work is used to train an LLM, and it is hard to draw the line between gaining “inspiration” from a previously existing work versus infringing on an artist’s intellectual property rights. These issues are troubling as the legal system is slow to catch up to industry changes, leaving the industry highly unregulated.
There has been a combination of responses from both the legal system and private corporations to these new issues in the music industry. For instance, Tennessee recently passed the ELVIS Act, which is the first law of its kind to specifically protect an artist’s voice against being replicated by AI tools. Additionally, companies in the music industry have taken the initiative to get ahead of these problems by attempting to create norms to regulate this new type of content creation. The above-mentioned platform AIVA offers different tiers to their music composition services, with the initial tier barring the composer from using their content for commercial purposes while the top tier gives them full legal rights to redistribute and profit off their content. Another company offers singers an option to license their voice to AI music creators, trademarking it with a traceable digital stamp that certifies legitimacy. Overall, the integration of AI in music demands creative strategies from the entire industry to better protect artists.
The relevance of AI’s role in the music industry continues to grow as mainstream creators share their opinions and their own uses of AI. The Beatles recently utilized AI tools to finish a song after 45 years, using a voice generator and a video recording of John Lennon’s voice to include his part in the song. On Tiktok, a creator named “Ghostwriter” used a voice generator and AI chatbot to recreate the style and voices of Drake and the Weeknd to create a fake duet single, which went viral and gained millions of listeners who thought it was a legitimate composition made by the two artists. Popular DJ and musician Grimes has created her own AI platform, Elf.Tech[4], that allows creators to license her voice for their own music so long as they agree to a 50% royalty split. While some artists remain wary of AI technology and others aim to capitalize on it, AI has made its way into mainstream music and is a pressing issue that cannot be ignored by the industry.
Listeners have been benefitting from the use of AI on many popular streaming platforms for a long time. For example, Spotify has been using AI for years for their marketing campaign “Spotify Wrapped”, which provides users with a synopsis of their listening trends and favorite music from the previous year. More recently, AI has been used to host virtual concerts on popular gaming and entertainment platforms such as TikTok and Fortnite, creating hyper realistic caricatures of famous artists that perform live on a virtual stage for millions of viewers. AI could provide exciting new ways for listeners to consume and engage with music.
The rise of AI in music production may create new trends in the kind and quality of music that is being produced. One concern is that if LLMs are fed poor quality or highly profane and offensive music, they will continue to recreate and perpetuate that content in the compositions that they produce. Additionally, there are some concerns that music platforms will become more saturated as popular kinds of music are mass produced while other, less popular genres are neglected, leading to a more repetitive and monotonous environment in the music industry. It will be interesting to see how the music industry responds to these challenges, and how they will use AI to produce creative content.
Many of these AI tools allow access to technology and techniques that were previously unavailable to small creators, allowing them to improve the quality of their music. Additionally, AI can be used to help creators with marketing campaigns and generating traction on social media, helping smaller artists create a platform for themselves and gain popularity. The open availability of AI tools on the internet provides more people with the means to produce higher quality content and promote that content freely, shifting the dynamics between large corporations and small creators.
As the integration of AI into the music industry continues to evolve, it brings forth both exciting opportunities and complex challenges. While AI presents innovative tools that democratize music creation, enhance production quality, and expand artist access to resources, it also raises significant legal and ethical questions about ownership, consent, and the preservation of artistic integrity. The need for adaptive legal frameworks is critical to safeguard artists’ rights and address the uncharted territories of AI-generated content. Many existing artists and corporations have welcomed AI into the music industry and incorporated it into industry practices, continuing to value intellectual property and the creative talents of musicians. As we look ahead, the conversation surrounding AI in music must balance innovation with respect for authentic artistic expression.
[1]https://app.landr.com/library/masteringPreview/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=sales_mastering_en_intl_generic&utm_term=ai%20mastering&utm_content=695392037037&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiuC2BhDSARIsALOVfBKnCROuqc6PojKtoQ8O3i0YcvthNCMu-oB0sTuIByXhvXhcKskDDMkaAm-uEALw_wcB
[2]https://emastered.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiuC2BhDSARIsALOVfBJfbUJDQIyOx5R4Olv6-AftUX4Rph6SDPyucii-GNLmih7_1aO-hfsaAmXdEALw_wcB
[3] https://www.aiva.ai/
[4] elf.tech
