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Transcript/ScriptLOGON: AI MUSIC
HEADLINE: LogOn: A Song Created with the Help of AI Rattles Music Industry
TEASER: A song created with AI sounds just like pop stars Drake and The Weeknd, fooling fans and angering the music industry.
BYLINE: Deana Mitchell
PUBLISHED: 7/11/2023, 9:50a
DATELINE:
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER: Deana Mitchell
SCRIPT EDITORS: Michelle Quinn, Page
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Zoom, YouTube, Storyblocks, AP, AFP
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 1:54
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) [[ After an anonymous TikToker created a song using artificial intelligence that fooled many into thinking it was made by pop stars, experts say the music industry will have to decide how to handle AI music. Deana Mitchell has the story.]]
((Mandatory CG: LawTWINZ—with YouTube Logo))
“I’m scared now! This ain’t Drake?!”
((NARRATOR))
From the lyrics to the beat, to the voices — a song posted by anonymous TikToker
((Mandatory CG: AP))
“Ghostwriter977” sounded just like mega star musicians Drake and The Weeknd.
“Heart on my Sleeve,” made with artificial intelligence, impressed fans but had some in the music industry crying foul.
And experts say it’s not that hard to do.
[[For Radio: Rebecca Fiebrink, a professor of creative computing at the University of the Arts London, has been working with AI and music since 2003. She spoke to VOA over Zoom]]
((Rebecca Fiebrink, University of the Arts London)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“Once a computer has a sort of understanding of the patterns that underlie voice in general,
((Courtesy: “Blinding Lights/UMG”))((courtesy: YouTube))
you don't need necessarily a lot of data from The Weeknd
((end courtesy))
to generate sounds that sound like him.”
((NARRATOR))
((Courtesy: “Blinding Lights/UMG”))((courtesy: YouTube))
Universal Music Group, which represents both artists, released a statement emphasizing the need to protect artists’ music. Many of the platforms removed the song.
But, experts say experiments like this with AI are just the beginning.
[[For Radio: Ge Wang is an associate professor at Stanford University in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. He spoke to VOA over Zoom]]
((Ge Wang, Stanford University)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“The toothpaste is not going back in the tube. We have to learn how to best live with it.”
((NARRATOR))
Wang teaches a class on music and AI. He is concerned at the speed in which AI is developing.
((Ge Wang, Stanford University)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“What's at stake is how we communicate, how we work, how we govern. What's at stake is how we make art.”
((NARRATOR))
Fiebrink says the music industry will have to decide how to fight — or use — AI.
((Rebecca Fiebrink, University of the Arts London)) ((Courtesy: Zoom))
“Do they decide that the best way to make money is to start churning out AI songs that don't have much human involvement so they can pocket the sales of those and not pay artists?”
((NARRATOR)) ((Mandatory CG: "Shinigami Eyes" / SME))
Since the release of "Heart of my Sleeve,” the musician Grimes launched an AI voice software allowing others to create music with her voice, offering to split the royalties 50%.
((Deana Mitchell for VOA News.))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJuly 11, 2023 16:18 EDT
Byline
Deana Mitchell for VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
