In September 2022, Beyoncé dropped her highly-anticipated album, “Renaissance,” which featured a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar on the track titled “America Has A Problem.” In this song, Kendrick Lamar delves into an emerging concern within the music industry. In the verse of the track, an AI-generated voice mimics Kendrick Lamar’s rapping. To this, Lamar quickly responds and raps the following line “Even AI needs practice to clone Kendrick. The double entendre, the encore remains.” Hereby the rapper argues that the current technology of AI is not able to fabricate his signature style and falls short as a replication of the rapper. The AI-generated voice cannot take his position as the major attraction or completely replace him.
See the video below and check out the song for yourself! See timestamp 01:10 – 01:15 for the mentioned line of Lamar.
However, Lamar hits the core of the rising debate concerning the rise of AI voice cloning; who owns the rights to this newly generated form of music and songs. Is it the user who used the algorithm and created the track, the ones who created the algorithm, or the musicians whose voices and styles were imitated?
Nevertheless, it also sparks my interest. Can I generate new songs using the voices of my favorite artists? To be fair, I am far from a musician or songwriter but can I become one using AI?
After doing some research, I found multiple types of software that claim to generate human voices with a high percentage of accuracy. For example, TopMedAI offers two types of software, one can speak text in a generated or existing voice. Here you can enter the text you want ”translated” into a lifelike voice. The other software can generate covers of your favorite existing artists singing in their style another song.
In the next blog post, I will share my experiences with TopMedAI and report back on my music-making process! To be continued!
References:
AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM (Remix). (2023). Genius. Retrieved October 3, 2023, from https://genius.com/28582472
Berger, V. (2023). A deep dive into the world of AI voice cloning. Digital Music News. https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2023/08/31/voice-cloning-deep-dive/
TopMediaI® – AI-powered audio, photo and video tools online. (n.d.). https://www.topmediai.com/
Thank you for sharing this fascinating insight into the intersection of AI technology and the music industry! The emergence of AI-generated voices and the potential to mimic artists’ styles raises complex questions about creativity, ownership, and the future of music.
Kendrick Lamar’s response in “America Has A Problem” highlights an important point. AI can imitate, but it cannot fully replicate the unique essence of an artist. The individuality, emotion, and authenticity that artists bring to their work remain unmatched. AI can be a tool, but it can’t replace the soul and creativity of artists that make music.
I look forward to reading your next blog post where you’ll share your experiences with TopMedAI!
Hi Ceyda,
Sorry for the late reply, but thank you for replying to my post! Unfortunately, it was not possible to write a second part of the blogpost because various AIs required payments to use their AI-generated voices. However, glad you liked my post 🙂
I found this post very interesting and intriguing! While listening to Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar’s song “America’s Got a Problem” certain lines by Kendrick also led me to similar thoughts. The discussion about the role of AI in music creation is very relevant. I like the questions you raised about the ownership of this new music, as it is indeed a very complex topic that deserves to be explored in depth. Also, the fact that AI tools can allow people to create their songs even if they are not musicians opens up incredible opportunities both for music lovers and for the music industry. Technology in this area is evolving very quickly, and I’ll be interested to read your next post to learn about your experience with TopMedAI and its potential!
Hi Angelia,
Thank you for the comments, sorry for the late reply. I agree with you, this topic deserves more attention because the various actors involved. Unfortunately, I was not able to execute the second post because of the installed paywall. But thanks again for the comment, appreciate it!
Your blog post caught my attention a lot. Even though Voice AI offers incredible potential, I can’t help but express my worries about the moral ramifications that come along with its quick development. It worries me that people’s voices can be duplicated, especially for celebrities like Kendrick Lamar. Artists have voices that serve as both their primary means of musical expression and an integral component of their individual artistic selves. It is very uncomfortable to consider that their voices might be taken, duplicated, or altered without their permission.
The question of “who” is responsible for these voice thefts and what their goals are is what worries me the most. We must consider the possibility of malevolent use, such as producing work that contradicts the artist’s principles or participates in dishonest behavior while attributing it to the artist. This not only damages the artist’s reputation but also erodes audience confidence in the artist.
Hi!
Thanks for the comment, I agree that artists should be shielded from recent music industry changes. Laws and regulations can assist in this regard.