YouTube experimenting AI music with Universal

YouTube has come together with Universal Music Group and a number of artists, including singer Rosanne Cash and producer Don Was, to experiment with artificial intelligence in the music business.

The Music AI Incubator that is newly formed includes partners such as the rapper Yo Gatti and the estate of singer Frank Sinatra, and it is set to explore as well as give feedback on AI-related tools with the goal of getting more artists involved with the technology, Universal chief executive officer Lucian Grange said in a blog post on Monday.

The CEO of YouTube, Neal Molan underscored in his own post that the platform has intentions to enforce copyrights and monitor its service for unauthorised use of an artist’s voice.

Videos that were AI-generated on YouTube had more than 1.7 billion views this year alone. The goal of the incubator is to find ways for performers to profit from the new technology. Molan said: “We’re eager to further build on our focus of helping artists and creators make money on YouTube and will continue to do so in collaboration with our partners.”

The recent explosion in generative AI tools has prompted concern that creators’ work could be used to generate new songs without proper licensing or attribution. In the early months of this year, a fake song featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd was pulled by streaming services after it started trending online. The song had more than views on TikTok and it was listened to more than a quarter of a million times on Spotify before it was taken down. Since then, record labels have also taken it down in response to the perceived threat to their catalogues.

Universal Music told streaming platforms back in April that they must prevent AI services from using the music to produce unlicensed content that sounds like the artists it represents, according to emails first seen by the Financial Times. Previously, Grainge gave warning of a “flood of unwanted content on platforms” and “rights issues with respect to existing copyright law” if the development of AI is left unchecked.

The partnership with YouTube reinforces the perception that the label is taking a proactive approach to manage AI-related risks. Already, Universal signed a deal with sound wellness company Endel earlier in the year, allowing its artists and labels to use Endel’s AI technology to create mood music soundscapes.

YouTube said in order to set out the three key principles of its approach to AI, as much as generative AI systems may amplify current challenges like trademark and copyright abuse, misinformation, spam, and more. But AI can also be used to identify this sort of content. The video-sharing platform also mentioned that it would commit to further investment in AI-powered technology to help protect its community of viewers, creators, artists and songwriters.

Some people in the industry have wholeheartedly embraced the technology.