OK, Computers | Artificial Intelligence and Music
As the music industry seeks to skirt around digital blockades, some intriguing innovations are bubbling under the surface. One such innovation is the use of artificial intelligence in the industry. Whether the brainchildren of big tech companies or music moguls, these innovators are certainly tapping into revolutionary phenomena. With these advancements, the power of the algorithm is used to maximise efficiency.
MyPart is an artificial intelligence-powered start up using AI to sort through thousands of songs. Songs that, due to sheer volume, would otherwise be impossible to manually review. It then prioritises and sorts them by relevance to what famous performing artists and their representatives are looking for.
Ronny Vance was the president of Geffen Music and Interscope for over 20 years – two of the biggest record labels in the business. He was responsible for signing famous artists such as Tupac, Gwen Stefani and Bruce Hornsby. Ronny had a shrewd skill for spotting song-writing talent. When he met the co-founders of MyPart, he agreed to come on board after seeing the AI in practice. He is now Head of Music Publishing at MyPart. I got in touch with him to learn more about MyPart and the relationship between the music industry and AI.
1. How did you first become interested in artificial intelligence and its potential role in the music industry?
“It wasn’t until I met the founders of MyPart, Matan and Ariel, and actually observed a test where I was on the receiving end of the platform and some of the artists I signed over the years were the benchmark. The A.I. went to work and transferred to my MyPart app music what was collected and sorted by relevance to me from thousands of submissions. What was at the top of the heap was real good, definitely good enough for me to investigate. That was when I became a believer.”
2. How does MyPart revolutionise the song submission process? To what degree has it helped you spot talent?
“MyPart’s platform provides access to the right decision makers without constantly wearing them out. It can do so since artificial intelligence doesn’t get tired or distracted from sifting through the avalanche of submissions and evaluating the likelihood of being relevant to a musical benchmark defined by a music executive that’s on the lookout. It then transforms it into a smaller, sorted pile that’s manageable. Once that process occurs, listening to music becomes seamless and pleasant again for the music executives who are looking for new content.”
3. How far do you see the role of AI in music developing over time? Do you feel it will play a major part in songwriting in the future?
“A.I. can’t replace the talented music executive – but it can serve as an extension of their ears and capabilities, making the time they do have much more effective. Perhaps in 20 years there may be something that can predict a hit, but that’s folly as of right now. Overall, for a generation that never lived in a record store or discovered music listening to radio, I’d say A.I. is doing just fine!”
4. What are the ramifications with regards to copyright and royalties when it comes to AI-generated music?
“AI generated music goes one step beyond what we do, which is simply an evaluation of music in a way that gives us an opportunity to deeply evaluate music that’s most likely to be relevant. As for music generation – that remains to be seen. But if that ever happens – I suppose we would have to make robots our partners and sign them to exclusive worldwide publishing deals!”
