As artificial intelligence (AI) technology becomes omnipresent in our everyday lives, it’s no surprise that it’s starting to take over our creative sphere, including music, where fake bands and artificial songs have flooded Spotify and YouTube.
One example is the album “Rumba Congo (1973)” which was uploaded to YouTube alongside the entire story of the musicians that recorded it – a band called Concubanas founded in Havana in 1971, playing an original fusion of Cuban and Congolese music, before it disbanded in 1992.
Fake songs, fake albums, fake bands
However, it’s completely fake. At the bottom of the description below the video is a note that describes the content as “altered or synthetic,” which means that AI can now easily create sounds that go beyond ambient themes that help listeners relax or concentrate, according to a report by El País published on June 15.
Furthermore, the report has referred to a study by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) in France, which has estimated that profits from AI-generated music will increase from $100 million in 2023 to around $4 billion in 2028, by which time about 20% of streaming platforms’ revenue will stem from it.
In the view of María Teresa Llano, an associate professor at the University of Sussex who studies the intersection of creativity, art, and AI, one of this trend’s biggest problems is the lack of transparency, as an untrained ear can easily mistake AI-generated music for the real thing. As she explained:
“There’s no way for people to know if something is AI or not. [It’s not as simple as searching] for an artist you’ve come across. Right now, there’s a responsibility hanging over you. It’s the responsibility to ensure [that there’s] transparency, to make it clear whether something is generated by artificial intelligence or by humans.”
Meanwhile, genuine musicians have recently received a new global platform called TikTok for Artists, specially designed to provide them with data insight to help them better connect with the global TikTok community, promote their music, and drive success both on and off the platform.
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