AI composed music: Is AI about to become the music world’s best collaborator?

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AI composed music: Is AI about to become the music world’s best collaborator?

AI composed music: Is AI about to become the music world’s best collaborator?

Subheading text
Collaboration between composers and AI is slowly breaking through the music industry.
    • Author:
    • Author name
      Quantumrun Foresight
    • November 23, 2021

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the music industry, enabling the creation of authentic music and opening up new possibilities for both seasoned artists and novices. This technology, which has roots dating back to the mid-20th century, is now being harnessed to complete unfinished symphonies, produce albums, and even generate new musical genres. As AI continues to spread throughout the music scene, it promises to democratize music creation, stimulate economic growth, and prompt new regulations.

    AI composed music context

    In 2019, US-based film composer Lucas Cantor partnered with China-based telecoms giant Huawei. The project involved the use of Huawei's artificial intelligence (AI) application, which was installed on their mobile devices. Through this app, Cantor embarked on the ambitious task of completing the unfinished movements of Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, a piece that the renowned Austrian composer had left incomplete in 1822.

    The intersection of technology and music is not a recent phenomenon, however. In fact, the first known attempt to generate music through a computer dates back to 1951. This pioneering endeavor was undertaken by Alan Turing, a British mathematician who is widely recognized for his contributions to theoretical computer science and AI. Turing's experiment involved wiring computers in a way that allowed them to reproduce melodies, marking a significant milestone in the history of computer-generated music.

    The evolution of computer-generated music has been steady and impressive. In 1965, the world witnessed the first instance of computer-generated piano music, a development that opened up new possibilities in digital music. In 2009, the first AI-generated music album was released. This progression made it inevitable that AI would eventually become a significant player in the music scene, influencing the way music is composed, produced, and even performed.

    Disruptive impact

    Companies in the music technology sector, such as Elon Musk's research firm OpenAI, are developing intelligent systems capable of creating authentic music. OpenAI's application, MuseNet, for instance, can generate a variety of musical genres and even blend styles ranging from Chopin to Lady Gaga. It can suggest entire four-minute compositions that users can modify to their liking. MuseNet's AI was trained to predict notes accurately by assigning musical and instrument "tokens" to each sample, demonstrating the potential of AI to understand and replicate complex musical structures.

    Artists are beginning to harness the capabilities of AI in their creative processes. A notable example is Taryn Southern, a former American Idol contestant, who released a pop album entirely co-written and co-produced by the AI platform Amper. Other AI composing platforms, such as Google's Magenta, Sony's Flow Machines, and Jukedeck, are also gaining traction among musicians. While some artists express skepticism about AI's ability to replace human talent and inspiration, many see the technology as a tool that can enhance their skills rather than replace them.

    AI can democratize music creation, allowing anyone with access to these technologies to compose music, regardless of their musical background. For companies, particularly those in the music and entertainment industry, AI can streamline the music production process, potentially leading to cost savings and increased efficiency. For governments, the rise of AI in music could require new regulations around copyright and intellectual property rights, as it blurs the line between human and machine-created content.

    Implications of AI composing music

    Wider implications of AI composing music may include:

    • More people being able to compose music without extensive musical training or background.
    • Experienced musicians using AI to produce higher quality music recordings and reducing the costs of music mastering.
    • Film composers using AI to sync film tone and mood with novel soundtracks.
    • AI becoming musicians themselves, releasing albums, and collaborating with human artists. Synthetic influencers can use the same tech to become pop stars.
    • Music streaming platforms using such AI tools to generate thousands or millions of original tracks that reflect the musical interests of their user base, and profiting off copyright ownership, licensing, and reduced payouts to low profile human musicians.
    • A more diverse and inclusive music industry, fostering cultural exchange and understanding as people from different backgrounds and experiences can contribute to the global music scene.
    • New jobs in music software development, AI music education, and AI music copyright law.
    • New laws and regulations around AI-generated content, balancing the need for innovation with the protection of intellectual property rights, leading to a more fair and equitable music industry.
    • Digital music creation and distribution through AI being more energy-efficient and less resource-intensive than traditional methods, leading to a more sustainable music industry.

    Questions to consider

    • Have you ever listened to AI-composed music?
    • Do you think that AI might improve music composition?

    Insight references

    The following popular and institutional links were referenced for this insight:

    Open AI MuseNet