News
August 14, 2023
Google and Universal Music (and other music companies) may be in negotiations to license artists’ voices and melodies for songs generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
This development, initially reported by the Financial Times, emerges as the music industry faces new challenges and opportunities in monetizing AI-generated deepfake songs.
Negotiating AI-Generated Music
Technology that can convincingly replicate the voices of established artists has been a pressing concern for music corporations.
In response, Google and Universal Music could be in early talks to allow fans to legally create tracks using AI-generated voices while paying the rightful copyright owners. Artists would have the option to participate.
With deepfake songs already mimicking voices like Frank Sinatra or Johnny Cash, the issue is no longer a distant threat but a current reality. The goal now would be to bring it into a monetizable framework.
Artists such as Drake and Taylor Swift have been “featured” in AI-generated songs that have gone viral.
MusicLM: High-Quality AI-Generated Music From Text
In related news, Google introduced MusicLM in January. Users could sign up to test MusicLM in the AI Test Kitchen in May.
By simply typing prompts like “soulful jazz for a dinner party,” users of the experimental tool can explore two versions of a song and vote on their preference, aiding in the refinement of the model.
By simply typing prompts like “soulful jazz for a dinner party,” users of the experimental tool can explore two versions of a song and vote on their preference, aiding in the refinement of the model.
The model’s capabilities go further in that it can be conditioned on both text and melody, transforming whistled and hummed tunes according to the style described in a text caption.
While MusicLM is an experimental tool to generate synthetic music for inspiration, it has certain constraints.
Specific queries mentioning artists or including vocals will not be produced, and users are encouraged to provide feedback if any issues arise with the generated audio.
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