MBW’s Stat Of The Week is a sequence during which we spotlight a single knowledge level that deserves the eye of the worldwide music trade. Stat Of the Week is supported by Cinq Music Group, a technology-driven report label, distribution, and rights administration firm.
The usage of synthetic intelligence-created music simply moved up a gear.
We’re not speaking about AI in mere instrumental music manufacturing, however the usage of machine studying to really mimic and even recreate human vocals – rendering the necessity for an actual singer out of date.
MBW first explored this matter final March, during which we analyzed the long-term implications of HYBE’s funding into (and subsequent acquisition of) Korea-based Synthetic Intelligence firm Supertone – which claims that its AI tech can create “a hyper-realistic and expressive voice [not] distinguishable from actual people”.
Now, over in China, issues have reached the subsequent degree: Tencent Music Leisure (TME) says that it has created and launched over 1,000 tracks containing vocals created by AI tech that mimics the human voice.
And get this: one in all these tracks has already surpassed 100 million streams.
Throughout the three months to finish of September, TME rolled out what it refers to as “patented voice synthesis know-how”, the Lingyin Engine. This tech, says TME, can “rapidly and vividly replicate singers’ voices to supply authentic songs of any fashion and language”.
A part of TME’s preliminary work utilizing the Lingyin Engine concerned creating “artificial voices in reminiscence of legendary artists” such because the late Teresa Teng, and the late Anita Mui.
(‘Resurrecting’ the voice of a deceased star is one thing HYBE’s Supertone gained a variety of media consideration for final 12 months: The corporate used its personal tech to recreate the voice of South Korean people celebrity Kim Kwang-seok.)
Cussion Pang, TME’s Government Chairman, defined to analysts earlier at the moment (November 15) that TME used the Lingyin Engine to “pay tribute” to Anita Mui by “creating an AI code primarily based on her [voice]” for a brand new monitor – Might You Be Handled Kindly By This World [English transation] – launched in help of the New Sunshine Charity Basis in China.
“[This track] has develop into the primary tune by an AI singer to be streamed over 100 million occasions throughout the web.”
Cussion Pang, Tencent Music Leisure
Teresa Teng’s voice was recreated by TME/the Lingyin Engine to steer the monitor Letter Not Despatched [English translation], launched earlier this 12 months to mark the anniversary of the Taiwanese star’s loss of life.
TME additionally confirmed at the moment (November 15) that – along with “paying tribute” to the vocals of lifeless artists by way of the Lingyin Engine – it has additionally created “an AI singer lineup with the voices of trending [i.e currently active] stars equivalent to Yang Chaoyue, amongst others”.
As talked about, by the tip of September, TME says it had created and launched over 1,000 songs with human-style vocals manufactured by the Lingyin Engine.
A type of tracks has set the usual for recognition: TME’s Cussion Pang confirmed this morning to analysts {that a} model of 1 tune, which seems to be referred to as In the present day (English translation), “has develop into the primary tune by an AI singer to be streamed over 100 million occasions throughout the web”.
The place may all of this go subsequent?
For one factor, the thoughts inevitably wanders to the truth that over 100,000 tracks at the moment are being uploaded to main international music streaming companies each single day.
The place may that determine scale as much as if limitless tracks at the moment are being born with uncanny human-esque AI vocals?
It’s additionally price remembering what Choi Hee-doo, the COO of Supertone – that’s the Korean AI voice-creation platform – stated final 12 months, when pondering how the tech would possibly evolve.
“For instance, BTS is actually busy nowadays, and it’d be unlucky if they’ll’t take part in content material as a consequence of lack of time,” the exec advised CNN.
“So, if BTS makes use of our know-how when making video games or audiobooks or dubbing an animation… they wouldn’t essentially need to report [that audio live] in particular person.”
Curiously, Ok-pop firm HYBE’s largest natural income driver in Q3 2022 was its Artist ‘Oblique-involvement’ enterprise line, which sees the identify and likeness of celebrity artists equivalent to BTS utilized in different areas like video games and promoting with out requiring the band’s energetic participation.
HYBE has now doubled down on its AI-generated voice plans, by totally buying Supertone in October in a $32 million deal.
Certainly, when HYBE confirmed that BTS could be enlisting within the military final month, HYBE CEO Jiwon Park, breaking down HYBE’s technique with out its top-earning act, stated that the corporate’s newly acquired AI voice startup will “function a key piece of the know-how sphere we goal to create”.
He added: “HYBE plans to unveil new content material and companies to our followers by combining our content-creation capabilities with Supertone’s AI-based talking and singing vocal synthesis know-how.”
Along with HYBE and TME, there’s additionally one other big of the know-how and music world that appears to be betting massive on AI: TikTok and its guardian firm ByteDance.
Again in July 2019, ByteDance acquired Jukedeck, a UK-based AI Music startup that specialised in creating royalty-free music for user-generated on-line movies.
In Might, ByteDance launched Mawf, a machine-learning pushed music-making app that analyses incoming audio alerts after which “re-renders” these alerts utilizing what it says is machine studying fashions of musical devices. ByteDance additionally not too long ago launched a music creation app in China referred to as ‘Sponge Band’ in response to Tech Planet.
This 12 months, as first reported by MBW, the corporate has been doubling down on its AI-powered music-making ambitions by way of a hiring spree for AI music specialists.
TikTok is particularly (and at the moment) hiring for a Analysis Scientist in Speech Synthesis in California. TikTok says that this particular person will “lead analysis to advance science and know-how in Pure Language Processing and Speech Processing (e.g., Speech Synthesis, ASR)”.
They can even “analysis, mannequin, design, develop and consider novel machine studying fashions and algorithms”.
It’s additionally hiring for a Analysis Scientist in Speech & Audio, in Seattle, Singapore and Mountain View.
TikTok says that this workforce’s focus is “on cutting-edge R&D in areas like speech & audio, music processing, pure language understanding and multimodal deep studying”.
Might TikTok – which runs its personal artist distribution service SoundOn, and is reportedly making ready to develop its Resso music service into extra markets – launch tracks within the close to future (similar to Tencent Music) both totally created by AI, or that includes ‘AI artificial voices’?
If it did, what would it not imply for its relationship with the music trade?
Cinq Music Group’s repertoire has received Grammy awards, dozens of Gold and Platinum RIAA certifications, and quite a few No.1 chart positions on quite a lot of Billboard charts. Its repertoire consists of heavyweights equivalent to Unhealthy Bunny, Janet Jackson, Daddy Yankee, T.I., Sean Kingston, Anuel, and a whole bunch extra.Music Enterprise Worldwide
