OK...I'm a songwriter and I can play keyboards well and several other instruments slightly (especially drums and guitar)...to be brief, I don't need AI, nor do I want something to generate music or lyrics or vocals for me. I'm not look to write the next hit, I only care about the journey of spark of an idea through developing it and recording it. But it's still interesting, and I'm not averse to using AI at some point or some degree. I wouldn't mind at all having AI listen to my song and say, "here are a couple of other ways you might try that phrasing", or harmony, or transition, and "let me play an example for you". Maybe I'll like it and use it, but more likely (and interesting) is if it doesn't exactly fit for me, but makes me think of other possibilities.
People in music will recognize this as getting input from a producer. One of the most successful names of all time is
Rick Rubin, who doesn't play an instrument and can't run a mixing console. But as another big name producer said at a showcase I attended, "he has the gift of being able to listen as a fan." I know some of the stories, but I'll keep it short. OK, one: If you know System of the Down, Chop Suey, you know "...Father, into your hands, Why have you forsaken me? In your eyes forsaken me?..."—when stuck for inspiration, Rubin suggested that Serj open this book to a random page, drop his finger and sing what he landed on.
The point is, those with success, connection, or money, can get this kind of help. With that in mind, maybe getting AI help isn't so impure.
Also, most people don't know how many modern hits are recycled old hits. Even literal samples lifted and looped. Sure, sometimes it's just singing (or rapping) over old music, but sometimes you won't recognize it, it becomes something new and fresh. The youtube hit (2.2B views),
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) [Official Music Video] is made of bits of several songs. the most recognizable was
Luiz Bonfa - Seville, and the melody of "baa baa black sheep"on xylophone, along with lifted rhythm sampling.
The point is, the stuff that some people worry about with AI happens all the time, has for decades. That really cool drum intro to Zep's Rock and Roll is lifted directly from a Chuck Berry song. I'm not sure how badly I feel that normal folks might have access to such ability—even as a musician myself.
Out of AI song generators, I've mostly worked with
suno. It was a little interesting to put in my lyrics and have it imagine a song in a style I request—mainly to hear how it might phrase my lyrics differently than I do. but it got a lot more interesting when they added audio input capabilities. It doesn't allow a whole song, it takes 6-60 seconds, then generates an additional four minutes starting from where the input ends. If an "ahh" is cut off, it might continue that vocalization in some way, so that if you connect the two, it's a seamless transition. Interestingly, if you put in music with a verse and a chorus, for instance, and you paste in the entire song's lyrics, it's smart enough to know which words you're already sang, and will pick them up in the second verse, for instance.
When I put in a dense, full developed song, it might not change it a lot. But it does deconstruct it and rebuild it, so parts that have a guitar melody might also be played without the melody, or with a melody with slight changes during other parts. The weirdest thing is hearing my own voice sing my own lyrics, but at times in different ways. Or repeat a phrase over and in a different way, to make the chorus a little different, for instance—it's not locked into only saying that words the same number of times that the lyrics dictate. In other words, as if a producer said, "why don't you try..."
I've also put in a theme on piano, and it gave me back some variations, at times expanded into a pretty reasonable piano piece that would certainly stand on its own for background to a video or presentation. That's the place that seems up for grabs by AI right away. Instead of licensing some music from stock music, why not pay a subscription to an AI site that you can feed a basic theme that you have in mind for a video backdrop, and have it complete and "record" the tune for you. Naturally, less music-adept folks would just describe what they want, until they get something they like.
The point is, this is already happening in a big way with photos for corporate presentations. Why go to Shutterstock and search for a picture, when you can say, "generate an image that conveys achievement of goals, for young adults"..."add sunshine"...
aes2.org
arstechnica.com
www.musicbusinessworldwide.com
variety.com
