Never mind ChatGPT – Music could be the next big frontier for AI content creation. Google recently published research on MusicLM, a system that creates music in any genre with text descriptions. This is not the first AI music generator. As techcrunch Note, projects such as Google’s AudioML and OpenAI’s Jukebox have addressed this topic. However, MusicLM’s model and huge training database (280,000 hours of music) help it create music with surprising variety and depth. You may like the output.
AI can not only combine genres and instruments, but also compose tracks using abstract concepts that are generally difficult for computers to understand. If you want a hybrid of dance music and reggaeton with “spacey, ethereal” melodies that create a “sense of wonder and awe”, MusicLM can make it happen. The technology can also generate melodies based on hums, whistles or details of a painting. A story mode can stitch together multiple details to create a DJ set or soundtrack.
MusicLM has its problems, as with many AI generators. Some compositions sound strange, and the vocals are incomprehensible. And while the performances themselves are better than you’d expect, they’re repetitive in ways that human action can’t. Don’t expect an EDM-style drop or the verse-chorus-verse pattern of a typical song.
Just don’t plan on using the technique any time soon. As with other Google AI generators, the researchers are not releasing MusicLM to the public due to copyright concerns. At the time of publication approximately one percent of the music produced was copied directly from the training songs. While questions regarding the licensing of AI music have not been resolved, a 2021 whitepaper by Eric Sunray (now working for the Music Publishers Association) suggested that there are enough “consistent” traces of the original sounds that AI music reproduction rights may be violated. You may need to get approval to release AI-generated songs, such as musicians who rely on samples.
AI already has a place in music. Artists such as Holly Herndon and Arca have used the algorithm to create album and muse soundtracks. However, they are either allies (as with Herndon) or intentionally unpredictable (as with Arca’s). MusicLM may not be ready for prime time, but it hints at a future where AI could play a bigger role in the studio.
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