What happened? Oliver McCann, who goes by the artist name imoliver, has signed a deal with a record label. That’s not unusual in and of itself, but what is striking is that all of his music has been created by AI, which he puts to self-penned lyrics. It’s apparently the first deal of its kind and came after one of his tracks hit three millions streams on Spotify, Associated Press reported. McCann’s deal is sure to stoke the controversial debate about the growing role of AI in the music industry.
Why is this important?
- Well, as McCann himself said: “I have no musical talent at all. I can’t sing, I can’t play instruments, and I have no musical background at all.”
- This is sure to irk talented musicians who spend years learning their instruments while struggling to make a living out of their craft.
- On top of that, the generative-AI software that McCann uses, like Suno and Udio, uses real artists’ music to train their AI models.
Why should I care? As generative AI software grows in popularity, expect to see more deals like McCann’s. Whether you choose to embrace tracks that are wholly or partially constructed using AI is your choice, but prepare yourself as there’s going to be a lot more of them going forward. Meanwhile, AI companies and record labels are negotiating deals regarding the use of copyrighted music for AI model training, with revenue or compensation set to be shared among artists. It’s early days and the systems and relationships between AI companies and rights holders are still being worked out.
