The biggest impact of AI in showbiz has probably been on the music industry in the last two years. A few months ago, about 200 music artists – including names such as billie eilish, Nicki Minaj, katy perryand Camila Cabello – called on digital music developers to recognise the threat posed by AI to the music industry. In India, AR Rahman used AI to recreate the voices of two late singers, Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed, for a song in a Rajinikanth film. Red Salute However, Rahman clarified that permission has been taken and the families of the singers have been compensated. Why are people unanimous when it comes to the use of AI in the music industry? Let’s find out.
Without any laws, there is a lot of scope for misuse of AI. It is not just about singers’ voices, but AI voices are also being used to extort money from people. However, if AI is used in a positive way then I have no worries. It is important to embrace the technology instead of fearing it –Nikita Gandhisinger
The AI made my voice samples much better for the final song: Hesham Abdul Wahab Composer, Audio Engineer and Singer
The Telugu film Hi Nanna is probably the first Indian film to have an AI singer credited. I wrote a few lines for the song Shards of Dreams, but when I sang them I was not happy with the output. The director and producer were scheduled to meet me the next morning and I decided to use the Musicify website, which turned my voice into an AI sample with a different accent called Linda. My director and producer did not understand that it was generated by AI; they only found out later. The AI made my voice sample sound far better for the final song
Tell clearly if the track is created with AI: Arko Pravo Mukherjee Singer and Composer
The positive aspect of AI is that it makes it easier to retrieve the voices of dead artists from old recordings or just the guitar notes from a song. This helps recreate songs at minimal cost. But the biggest concern is copyright: anyone wishing to recreate a song using AI must have permission and credit the copyright holders. It must be made clear that the track has been created through AI; this should not give the false impression that it was created by a human.
AI cannot match human voice in full-length songs: Music producer Aditya Pushkarna
The use of AI is great for short-form content, but when it comes to a full song, AI can’t match the feel of a human voice. The singer’s emotions can change with every take. Recordings capture the moment that sounds best. Plug-ins are reducing the time we spend on the mechanical aspects of music using AI, so that we have more time to focus on the actual art. Like ChatGPT, we can use SynthGPT to create music.
We have created a site using AI that provides original music based on signals: Mansoor Rahimat Khan Sitar player and co-founder of Beatoven.ai
Music, as an industry, has two aspects to it. The first is the creative sector, where artists create new music and listeners listen to it because the music either sounds great or is by their favourite artist. AI can never replace it. The second sector involves repetitive tasks. For example, movies, games or podcasts require functional and repetitive music that is rights-free. This sector will see a huge disruption, as people will prefer fast and efficient output in less time. AI can definitely achieve this. If you are an artist who is creative and original, you don’t need to worry that AI will replace you, but if you are one of those doing repetitive tasks, there are high chances that AI can replace you. Siddharth Bharadwaj) started working on Beatoven.ai in 2020, we knew that generative AI was coming in a big way. Being musicians as well as AI engineers, we knew that production was one of the biggest categories, as news channels, TV shows, documentaries, podcasts and more need cheap, royalty-free music and they rely on stock music websites. We decided to build a site that provides original music based on prompts given by users and it took us two years to launch it. We worked with independent artists and paid them to build our database. We have contracts with these artists. It is a legal arrangement where there is no IP infringement.
In the west, AI demo voices are used to make a singer sing: Sunny MR Musician, Music Producer,Singer and sound engineer
Singers don’t have to worry, because if something is released that mimics their voice, they will know. Legally, a singer can license their voice to be used by an AI tool and get paid every time it is used. When VST (Virtual Studio Technology, a software that digitally combines synthesizers and sound effects) came in, there was a concern that live musicians would lose work, but that didn’t happen. In fact, the more people use VST instruments, the more they realise how important the human touch is. In the West, if a song has to be given to a particular singer, they use AI voices to create the demo.
For Ludo (2020), which had music director Pritam da, we had the song O Betaji which we wanted to use for Kishore Kumar‘s voice. I used an AI tool called iZotope.rx to isolate their vocals so that we could rearrange it for the film. I am also trying to sample instruments through AI to create unique tones.
Without any laws, there is a lot of scope for misuse of AI. It is not just about singers’ voices, but AI voices are also being used to extort money from people. However, if AI is used in a positive way then I have no worries. It is important to embrace the technology instead of fearing it –Nikita Gandhisinger
The AI made my voice samples much better for the final song: Hesham Abdul Wahab Composer, Audio Engineer and Singer
The Telugu film Hi Nanna is probably the first Indian film to have an AI singer credited. I wrote a few lines for the song Shards of Dreams, but when I sang them I was not happy with the output. The director and producer were scheduled to meet me the next morning and I decided to use the Musicify website, which turned my voice into an AI sample with a different accent called Linda. My director and producer did not understand that it was generated by AI; they only found out later. The AI made my voice sample sound far better for the final song
Tell clearly if the track is created with AI: Arko Pravo Mukherjee Singer and Composer
The positive aspect of AI is that it makes it easier to retrieve the voices of dead artists from old recordings or just the guitar notes from a song. This helps recreate songs at minimal cost. But the biggest concern is copyright: anyone wishing to recreate a song using AI must have permission and credit the copyright holders. It must be made clear that the track has been created through AI; this should not give the false impression that it was created by a human.
AI cannot match human voice in full-length songs: Music producer Aditya Pushkarna
The use of AI is great for short-form content, but when it comes to a full song, AI can’t match the feel of a human voice. The singer’s emotions can change with every take. Recordings capture the moment that sounds best. Plug-ins are reducing the time we spend on the mechanical aspects of music using AI, so that we have more time to focus on the actual art. Like ChatGPT, we can use SynthGPT to create music.
We have created a site using AI that provides original music based on signals: Mansoor Rahimat Khan Sitar player and co-founder of Beatoven.ai
Music, as an industry, has two aspects to it. The first is the creative sector, where artists create new music and listeners listen to it because the music either sounds great or is by their favourite artist. AI can never replace it. The second sector involves repetitive tasks. For example, movies, games or podcasts require functional and repetitive music that is rights-free. This sector will see a huge disruption, as people will prefer fast and efficient output in less time. AI can definitely achieve this. If you are an artist who is creative and original, you don’t need to worry that AI will replace you, but if you are one of those doing repetitive tasks, there are high chances that AI can replace you. Siddharth Bharadwaj) started working on Beatoven.ai in 2020, we knew that generative AI was coming in a big way. Being musicians as well as AI engineers, we knew that production was one of the biggest categories, as news channels, TV shows, documentaries, podcasts and more need cheap, royalty-free music and they rely on stock music websites. We decided to build a site that provides original music based on prompts given by users and it took us two years to launch it. We worked with independent artists and paid them to build our database. We have contracts with these artists. It is a legal arrangement where there is no IP infringement.
In the west, AI demo voices are used to make a singer sing: Sunny MR Musician, Music Producer,Singer and sound engineer
Singers don’t have to worry, because if something is released that mimics their voice, they will know. Legally, a singer can license their voice to be used by an AI tool and get paid every time it is used. When VST (Virtual Studio Technology, a software that digitally combines synthesizers and sound effects) came in, there was a concern that live musicians would lose work, but that didn’t happen. In fact, the more people use VST instruments, the more they realise how important the human touch is. In the West, if a song has to be given to a particular singer, they use AI voices to create the demo.
For Ludo (2020), which had music director Pritam da, we had the song O Betaji which we wanted to use for Kishore Kumar‘s voice. I used an AI tool called iZotope.rx to isolate their vocals so that we could rearrange it for the film. I am also trying to sample instruments through AI to create unique tones.
