Uptown Plug about the technology Amadeus Code provides to independent artists, helping songwriters create, AI’s role in music and plenty more.

Taishi is back for another interview with us to discuss what the latest Endel/Warner news means for AI music and the future of music as a whole.

1. WHAT ARE SOME COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE DEAL BETWEEN WARNER AND ENDEL?
It’s actually not a “deal” in the traditional record deal sense. It is a distribution partnership.

2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR AN ALGORITHM TO BE SIGNED BY A MAJOR LABEL? IS THAT EVEN WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CASE?
It should be made clear that Warner did not sign the partnership with an algorithm nor do they own any part of it through this partnership.

3. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE OF AI MUSIC? WILL WE SEE OTHER AI COMPANIES SIGNED TO LABELS IN THE FUTURE?
What this partnership has validated is 2 things:

First, existing distribution partnerships can be applied to content generated by creative algorithms
Second, content generated with algorithms (not necessarily entirely by algorithms) are getting better to the point where a major label is willing to sign a distribution partnership.
I don’t see why other AI companies can’t proceed as well.

4. SHOULD THIS BE A CAUSE FOR ALARM FOR MUSICIANS? DOES THIS DEAL THREATEN CREATIVE JOBS?
As this specific case has shown, algorithms have become good enough to generate utilitarian mood-based audio.

I imagine a very creative musician(s) was behind the concept and creation of the sound design.

Demand for human creativity will continue to exist with the creation of these technologies, and we must also not forget that general demand for music will only continue to increase with the endless invention of new infrastructure, consumption formats, and channels.

5. RIGHT NOW THERE’S A GREAT DEAL OF SKEPTICISM AROUND THIS DEAL. DO YOU THINK THAT AUDIENCES WILL LEARN TO MORE READILY ACCEPT MUSICAL IDEAS FROM MACHINES?
For this specific case, considering that the “music” is utility music, it’s rather easy to measure success (i.e. did the “sleep album” actually help you sleep?).

However, when it comes to sound recordings in the non-utilitarian sense, I think the skepticism around “machine-made” music can be unhealthy if one were to overgeneralize.

For example, some of these new AI-based technologies, like ours at Amadeus Code, do not create “machine-made” music.

Our technology is meant to create a shared control principle between machine and creator, enabling creative outputs which would not be possible without one or the other.

6. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON THIS NEWS YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
What history has taught us is that human creators will find a way to break and mold our own tools and will ultimately create an explosion of new culture, and by doing so usher in an entire economy of new jobs.

We are very mindful about how we create these tools for creators and invite everyone to collaborate with us.