Tag: AI-generated music

  • Spotify Unveils AI Songs by Deceased Artists Without Approval

    Spotify Unveils AI Songs by Deceased Artists Without Approval

    Key Takeaways

    1. AI-created songs are increasingly appearing on Spotify, including on the profiles of deceased artists, raising concerns about authenticity.
    2. A recent AI-generated song titled “Together” was released on Blaze Foley’s page, but it did not resemble his style and was criticized as “AI schlock.”
    3. Music labels, like Lost Art Records, are concerned about the impact of AI content on the reputation of deceased artists.
    4. Spotify blames the issue on SoundOn, a TikTok service, and stated that the controversial content has been removed for violating their policies.
    5. There is frustration among music industry professionals about Spotify’s inability to prevent unauthorized AI-generated content from being attributed to artists.

    Since Spotify began, it has become very popular, giving listeners access to a vast selection of music. However, recently, AI-created songs have started to fill the platform, with some even showing up on the profiles of artists who have passed away, raising a lot of questions and controversies about this practice.

    Controversial AI Releases

    A notable case involves Blaze Foley, a singer-songwriter known as Deputy Dawg, who was tragically murdered in 1989 at just 39 years old, having been active since 1975. According to Spotify, a new song titled “Together” was released on his official page last week. However, upon closer look, the song features a country singer that does not resemble Foley at all, even though the music style is similar to slow country.

    Concerns from Music Labels

    Craig McDonald, the owner of Lost Art Records, which handles the distribution of Foley’s music, commented that this new track is unrelated to the late artist: “It’s kind of an AI schlock bot, if you will. It has nothing to do with the Blaze you know, that whole posting has the authenticity of an algorithm.”

    Spotify’s Response

    In reaction to this issue, Spotify reportedly blamed SoundOn, a service from TikTok that allows users to share their music directly: “We’ve flagged the issue to SoundOn, the distributor of the content in question, and it has been removed for violating our Deceptive Content policy.”

    But there’s more: a copyright notice at the bottom of the page mentions a production company called Syntax Error. This is similar to what happened with Guy Clark, an artist who passed away in 2016 due to lymphoma. An AI-generated song titled “Happened To You” was released on his Spotify page last week, also under the same copyright.

    The Challenge of AI Content

    Consequently, Spotify appears to be struggling to manage its platform effectively, especially with the growing use of AI that allows unscrupulous individuals to attribute songs to deceased artists without their consent. Craig McDonald expressed his frustration to 404media: “It’s harmful to Blaze’s standing that this happened. It’s kind of surprising that Spotify doesn’t have a security fix for this type of action, and I think the responsibility is all on Spotify. They could fix this problem. One of their talented software engineers could stop this fraudulent practice in its tracks, if they had the will to do so. And I think they should take that responsibility and do something quickly.”

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  • Band Confirms Use of AI in Music on Spotify

    Band Confirms Use of AI in Music on Spotify

    Key Takeaways

    1. The Velvet Sundown has gained over a million monthly listeners on Spotify shortly after debuting in June with two albums and several singles.
    2. The band has been confirmed to be a creation of artificial intelligence, with music and visuals generated with AI tools under human creative direction.
    3. Their project challenges traditional ideas of authorship and identity in the music industry, prompting discussions about the future of music in the age of AI.
    4. The visual representation of the band consists of AI-generated images of four members, despite claims of human involvement.
    5. Upcoming releases include their third album, “Paper Sun Rebellion,” set for July 14, and the impact of their AI origins on listener engagement remains uncertain.

    The Velvet Sundown, a group that appears to have four members, has attracted significant interest on Spotify. They began sharing music on the platform in early June and have already launched two complete albums, along with several singles, and another album that’s set to release shortly. Unsurprisingly, listeners have begun to suspect that the band is a creation of artificial intelligence, which has now been confirmed.

    Impressive Growth

    The Velvet Sundown boasts over a million monthly listeners on Spotify. This is quite a remarkable achievement for a debut, especially since their first album, titled “Floating on Echoes,” was released on June 4. They followed up with their second album, “Dust and Silence,” on June 19. The upcoming week, July 14, will see the launch of their third album, “Paper Sun Rebellion.” Since their entrance into the music scene, many have been quick to label the band as AI-generated, prompting the creators to revise the Spotify biography to describe it as a “synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence.”

    Challenging Norms

    The description further asserts that this project pushes the limits of “authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI.” The creators assert that the characters, narratives, music, voices, and lyrics are “original creations generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools,” although it’s not clear how extensively AI was involved in the creation process.

    The visual artwork of the band depicts four people, implying they are the creators of the project, but these images are likely generated by AI too. Interestingly, an individual named Andrew Frelon (a pseudonym) initially claimed to be the owner of this AI band but later admitted that was false. He stated he was only pretending to manage their Twitter account to add an “extra layer of weird into this story,” regarding this AI band.

    Future Outlook

    At this point, The Velvet Sundown’s music can be found on Spotify, with their new album set to drop next week. Whether this revelation will lead to an increase or decrease in their monthly listener count is still uncertain.

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  • Indian Filmmaker Transitions from Human Artists to AI Music

    Indian Filmmaker Transitions from Human Artists to AI Music

    With around 2,000 films and 25,000 songs released each year, India is a key player in the media sector. Though this industry currently offers abundant employment opportunities, a well-known filmmaker has expressed frustration over delays caused by human musicians. He has decided to delegate all music-related tasks to artificial intelligence moving forward. Ram Gopal Varma has introduced RGV Den Music, a project that intends to showcase exclusively AI-generated music. The tracks will be sourced from various applications, including Suno and Udio, as noted by Varma.

    A Shift in Filmmaking

    The filmmaker announced that all his upcoming projects will eliminate human involvement in music creation. He revealed that his latest film, Saree, features a soundtrack that is completely generated by AI. After voicing dissatisfaction with composers for their inability to meet deadlines and manage schedules, Varma also criticized lyricists for failing to capture the true essence of songs. He argued that human involvement often hampers the creative process, while AI can produce results almost instantaneously and at minimal cost.

    Industry Reactions

    While many directors, like Christopher Nolan, are opposed to the extensive use of AI in filmmaking and believe that human-generated art cannot be easily replaced, Varma is convinced that human composers, lyricists, musicians, and singers "will be vastly affected and then completely disappear in the near future." He predicts that as applications for generating multimedia content become increasingly affordable and efficient, the need for human artists will diminish.

    Ownership and Rights

    Addressing the contentious issue of ownership regarding AI-generated works, Varma highlighted Reclaim Protocol and Story Protocol, two startups designed to protect the rights of his AI-created soundtracks through cryptographic proofs.

    For those musicians eager to adapt to the AI revolution rather than resist it, Bobby Owsinski’s The Musician’s AI Handbook: Enhance And Promote Your Music With Artificial Intelligence may be worth exploring. This 277-page guide is available for purchase at $9.99 in Kindle format and $39.99 in paperback.

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