Will Okay-pop’s AI experiment repay?

There’s a problem dividing Okay-pop followers proper now – synthetic intelligence.

A number of of the style’s greatest stars have now experimented with the know-how to create music movies and produce songs, together with boy band Seventeen.

Final yr the South Korean group bought round 16 million albums, making them one of the profitable Okay-pop acts in historical past. However it’s their most up-to-date album and single, Maestro, that’s obtained folks speaking.

The music video options an AI-generated scene, and on the launch of the album in Seoul, one of many band members, Woozi, informed reporters he was “experimenting” with AI when making music.

“We practised making songs with AI, as we wish to develop together with know-how relatively than complain about it,” he mentioned.

“This can be a technological growth that we’ve got to leverage, not simply be dissatisfied with. I practised utilizing AI and tried to search for the professionals and cons.”

Nonetheless, Woozi has since mentioned on Instagram that each one of Seventeen’s music is “written and composed by human creators”.

On Okay-pop dialogue pages, followers had been torn over the problem of utilizing AI, with some saying extra rules should be in place earlier than the know-how turns into normalised.

Others had been extra open to it, together with tremendous fan Ashley Peralta. “If AI can assist an artist overcome inventive blocks, then that’s OK with me,” says the 26-year-old.

Her fear although, is that a complete album of AI generated lyrics means followers will lose contact with their favorite musicians.

“I find it irresistible when music is a mirrored image of an artist and their feelings,” she says. “Okay-pop artists are rather more revered once they’re fingers on with choreographing, lyric writing and composing, since you get a bit of their ideas and emotions.

“AI can take away that essential element that connects followers to the artists.”

Ashley presents Spill the Soju, a Okay-pop fan podcast, together with her finest good friend Chelsea Toledo. Chelsea admires Seventeen for being a self-producing group, which suggests they write their very own songs and choreograph them too, however she’s apprehensive about AI having an affect on that status.

“In the event that they had been to place out an album that’s stuffed with lyrics they hadn’t personally written, I don’t know if it might really feel like Seventeen any extra and followers need music that’s authentically them”.

For these working in Okay-Pop manufacturing, it’s no shock that artists are embracing new applied sciences.

Chris Nairn is a producer, composer and songwriter working below the identify Azodi. Over the previous 12 years he’s written songs for Okay-pop artists together with Kim Woojin and main company SM Leisure.

Working with Okay-pop stars means Chris, who lives in Brighton, has spent a whole lot of time in South Korea, whose music business he describes as progressive.

“What I’ve realized by hanging out in Seoul is that Koreans are massive on innovation, and so they’re very massive on ‘what is the subsequent factor?’, and asking, ‘how can we be one step forward?’ It actually hit me after I was there,” he says.

“So, to me, it is no shock that they are implementing AI in lyric writing, it is about maintaining with know-how.”

Is AI the way forward for Okay-pop? Chris isn’t so certain. As somebody who experiments with AI lyric turbines, he doesn’t really feel the lyrics are robust sufficient for high artists.

“AI is placing out pretty good high quality stuff, however once you’re on the high tier of the songwriting recreation, typically, individuals who do finest have innovated and created one thing model new. AI works by taking what’s already been uploaded and subsequently can’t innovate by itself.”

If something, Chris predicts AI in Okay-pop will enhance the demand for extra private songs.

“There’s going to be stress from followers to listen to lyrics which might be from the artist’s coronary heart, and subsequently sound completely different to any songs made utilizing AI”.

Seventeen aren’t the one Okay-pop band experimenting with AI. Lady group Aespa, who’ve a number of AI members in addition to human ones, additionally used the know-how of their newest music video. Supernova options generated scenes the place the faces of band members stay nonetheless as solely their mouths transfer.

Podcaster and super-fan Chelsea says it “triggered” lots of people.

“Okay-pop is thought for superb manufacturing and modifying, so having complete scenes manufactured from AI takes away the allure,” she provides.

Chelsea additionally worries about artists not getting the best credit score. “With AI in movies it’s tougher to know if somebody’s authentic paintings has been stolen, it’s a very sensitive topic”.

Arpita Adhya is a music journalist and self-titled Okay-pop superfan. She believes using AI within the business is demonstrative of the stress artists are below to create new content material.

“Most recording artists will put out an album each two years, however Okay-pop teams are pushing out albums each six to eight months, as a result of there’s a lot hype round them.”

She additionally believes AI has been normalised within the business, with the introduction of AI covers which have exploded on YouTube. The quilt tracks are created by followers and use know-how to imitate one other artist’s voice.

It is this type of pattern that Arpita want to see regulated, one thing western artists are calling for too.

Simply final month megastars together with Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj wrote an open letter calling for the “predatory” use of AI within the music business to be stopped.

They referred to as on tech corporations to pledge to not develop AI music-generation instruments “that undermine or change the human artistry of songwriters and artists, or deny us honest compensation for our work”.

For Arpita, a scarcity of rules means followers really feel an obligation to manage what’s and isn’t OK.

“While there are not any clear tips on how a lot artists can and may’t use AI, we’ve got the wrestle of constructing boundaries ourselves, and all the time asking ‘what is correct and fallacious?’”

Fortunately she feels Okay-pop artists are conscious of public opinion and hopes there will likely be change.

“The followers are the largest half and so they have a whole lot of affect over artists. Teams are all the time eager to study and hear, and if Seventeen and Aespa realise they’re hurting their followers, they’ll hopefully tackle that.”

Replace 14 July 2024: This text was amended to verify that whereas AI is being experimented with in Okay-pop, it was not used to write down songs for the most recent Seventeen album.