From “10 Drunk Cigarettes” to songs like “BBL Drizzy,” musical works created by artificial intelligence continue to go viral. However, despite the recent popularity of AI-generated music, the use of this technology has faced intense criticism.
This summer, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group sued AI music company Uncharted over software that allows users to create music from text prompts, alleging that copyrighted songs were being used to train AI without permission. Labs and Suno were sued. Universal Music Group is not affiliated with NBCUniversal, which operates NBC News.
Record labels moved quickly to remove music that included AI versions of Drake and The Weeknd’s voices.
And more than 200 music artists, including Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, and Nicki Minaj, have accused AI companies of “stealing the voices and likenesses of professional artists, violating the rights of creators, and accelerating music ecology” this year. destroy the system.”
Despite the backlash, AI music companies continue to grow and use novel claims of accessibility to defend their businesses.
Websites like Sound Draw, Musicfy, AIVA, and Boomy allow users to easily create music with AI using a variety of inputs.
Users can select music from different genres and adjust the tempo, mood, instruments featured in the music, and more.
The AI music company says the new ease of use will allow users who previously couldn’t easily create music to generate their own content.
“You don’t have to buy expensive equipment. You don’t have to take music lessons,” said Kathy Speer, Director of Creative Success at Boomy. “There’s a lot of work you have to do to make music, and Boomy’s goal is simply to make it easy for anyone who wants to experiment with their creativity to come to our site and give it a try.”
Speer travels the country educating students about generative AI technology and Boomy, and hopes that AI technology can provide new levels of music access for low-income students. said.
“Marginalized people are often left out of the tech industry and aren’t given the same access,” she says. “If we can partner with people who want to do it right, provide resources to students, and create symbiotic relationships with the music industry and schools, we can do even more.”
Access to music education is shrinking in U.S. public schools
According to the Arts Education Data Project, a data collection and analysis project conducted by arts education nonprofit organizations, 8% of all students in U.S. public schools did not have access to music education during the school day.
Other companies are leaning into the idea that AI can lower the barriers to music production and democratize the art form. Software company Musicfy said in a blog post that its technology “shortens the learning curve, allowing beginners to focus on creativity rather than technical challenges.”
Canadian musician Grimes also highlighted the ideal by inviting fans to make music using AI-generated voices, writing on X: Contract!?The future is now! This is so cool. ”
In Denver, Speer taught a course on AI music tools using Boomy for young musicians.
Some of the local artists who performed at Youth on Record’s festival are advocates for integrating AI technology into music education and music production.
“For everyone who’s sitting at home with a song idea in their head but doesn’t have the keyboard skills or the guitar skills or anything else to actually make it happen, there’s a tool that can make it happen. Just think how vibrant the Denver scene would be if we had a band called Dog Tags.
Wallace and some of his bandmates attended an AI workshop introducing Boomy’s software.
“I really don’t think anyone should feel like not knowing how to use software that costs over $400 is going to stop them from pursuing their dreams,” he says. “If AI is a way to start influencing that in a different direction, I’m pretty open to that.”
Boomy is free to use, but the price range varies depending on the number of songs you want to publish. Mitchell said Boomy will keep 20% of an artist’s profits if a song is created and distributed using Boomy’s software.
All tracks created using that software become the sole property of Boomy.
Dog Tags bassist and vocalist Michael Merola said he uses AI tools to aid his creative process, such as asking ChatGPT for synonyms for words in song lyrics.
Wallace said the duo also uses music-specific AI tools for inspiration.
“Even just showing Michael like, ‘Hey, this is what I had in mind. I want you to hear mainly the melody, but I have some chord ideas in the background.'” They say, “Oh, look, I could do better.” And now I’m writing a song. So that’s always kind of the starting point.
But not all the up-and-coming musicians at the Denver festival were excited about the advances in technology.
“To be honest, I’m very nervous,” singer-songwriter Genevieve Rivian said.
“I’m skeptical about that. Maybe it’s because music to me is so human, so essential to humanity, so inseparable from music. So I don’t think any kind of artificial “I feel like it’s a bit of an insult to the sanctity of intelligence as well,” she added.
She attended Bhumi’s workshop out of curiosity, but that didn’t change her mind.
“I personally don’t see myself using generative AI,” she said. “My biggest fear is that when I turn on the radio, all the songs that come on are like ChatGPT.”
Creative professionals across industries echo Libien’s concerns about how AI could impact the arts and creative professions. In September 2023, screenwriters ended the longest writers’ strike in Hollywood history after film and television companies agreed to guardrails on how AI is used in the industry.
According to the Associated Press, Tennessee became the first state this year to take legal action to protect musicians and artists from AI, ensuring that AI tools are not used to duplicate artists’ voices without their consent. passed a bill to do so.
Still, Speer is hopeful that incorporating AI into music education will help in a positive way.
“We hope that this technology will provide more resources and encourage more companies to collaborate within public school systems and nonprofit organizations to support their mission to ensure that music and the arts are never left behind.” ” she said.
