ChatGPT is knocking on the doors of the music industry, and people are now listening to music created by AI machines. Iconic artists may not feel the impact yet, but those seeking to break into the industry will find it harder. As evidence, James Blake’s most recent album, Wind Down, features tech from Endel, an audio-technology company from Berlin, and thus blurs the lines of who created the music on the album.
Endel’s technology is an evolution of generative music, with humans providing the framework and machines doing the rearranging to fit the specifications, such as sticking to the C major scale. This has made labels worry that functional music, which garners 10 billion streams per month, could be the start of the music AI revolution. Endel sees 2 million monthly listeners across all streaming platforms, and they have increasingly partnered with tech giants, with Amazon being the latest.
Although this new-age audio technology doesn’t sound quite right to all, it isn’t Endel’s target audience; mainly artificial noise designed to be in the background. AI hasn’t reached the level of creating pop song, instead capable of producing snipets of music in various genres, imitating styles and vocal-tones, but not ready for the manufacture of complete, ready-made songs. Though the fear is still present and has caused Universal Music Group NV to try to protect their streaming model from AI.
However, UMG’s concerns might come too late, as even their own label, which released Blake’s new album, was not exempt from this worry. This is evidenced by their stock dropping 2 billion euros in one day, and the call for streaming platforms to crack down on AI services that draw inspiration from artists.
As for the existing artists, such as Swift and the Weeknd, musical strategies of labels such as Believe SA and Deezer SA, should to pay more respect to the canonic figures, as well as diversifying soundscapes so that new generations of artists can emerge.
Endel is an audio technology company which is based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 2017, Endel provides personalized soundscapes hidden using external factors like temperature, time and heart rate. It has made partnerships with foreign platforms and released albums with contemporary artists like Grimes. Endel’s main goal is to tap into existing music catalogues and produce soundscapes of songs that already exist.
Oleg Stavitsky is the co-founder of Endel and former Spotify engineer. He is credited as co-creator of James Blake’s newest album Wind Down. He studied at KTH in Sweden and worked in AI and audio related projects before establishing Endel in 2017. His passion for the combination of AI with art is the driving force of Endel’s success. He understands the potential of this technology, which can facilitate creativity, to help artists explore their full potential.
