Is AI songwriting killing music and artistic creativity or just democratising it?
AI music creation allows people with no musical skill to write songs, and AI-created music is increasingly turning up on streaming sites
When pop groups and rock bands practise or perform, they rely on their guitars, keyboards and drumsticks to make music. Oliver McCann, a British AI music creator with the stage name imoliver, fires up his chatbot.
McCann’s songs span genres from indie pop to electro soul and country rap. There is just one crucial difference between McCann and traditional musicians.
“I have no musical talent at all,” he says. “I can’t sing, I can’t play instruments and I have no musical background at all.”
McCann, 37, who has a background as a visual designer, started experimenting with AI to see if it could boost his creativity and “bring some of my lyrics to life”.
Last month, he signed with independent record label Hallwood Media after one of his tracks racked up 3 million streams, apparently the first time a music label has signed a contract with an AI music creator.
McCann is an example of how ChatGPT-style AI song generation tools like Suno and Udio have spawned a wave of synthetic music – a movement most notably highlighted by a fictitious group, Velvet Sundown, that went viral even though all its songs, lyrics and album art were created by AI.