The flourishing of AI in music composition ignites discussions about the music industry's upcoming trajectory

In a revolutionary move for the music industry, Oliver McCann, a British AI music creator who goes by the stage name imoliver, has signed with independent record label Hallwood Media. This marks the first time a music label has inked a contract with an AI music creator.

McCann's signing is a testament to the growing influence of AI music in the industry. With the increasing acceptance of AI, there's a possibility that AI-generated music could find its way onto the charts. McCann's songs span a range of genres, including indie-pop, electro-soul, country-rap, and more.

The AI music landscape is currently in a "Wild West" phase due to the lack of legal clarity over copyright. Last year, three major record companies, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Records, filed lawsuits against AI music generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement. Lukas Rams, a Philadelphia-area resident, uses AI to create music for his band Sleeping With Wolves, having created three albums using the technology.

Rams writes his own lyrics, using AI to help get the writing process started. However, AI-generated lyrics are often criticised for being cliche and boring. Antonuccio, an expert, compares the current state of AI music to the legal battles over file-sharing sites like Napster in the early 2000s.

Despite these challenges, creators like McCann and Rams hope AI will eventually become a part of the mainstream music world. Generative AI is set to transform the music world, but there are scant details on its impact on the $29.6 billion global recorded music market.

Interestingly, McCann started experimenting with AI to boost his creativity and bring his lyrics to life. He has no musical talent and has never played an instrument. On the other hand, Rams has been creating music for Sleeping With Wolves for some time now.

Deezer, a music streaming service, estimates that 18% of songs uploaded to its platform every day are purely AI generated, though they only account for a tiny amount of total streams. The AI-based music generators Suno and Udio are developed by MusicLab, which offers the "MusicLab: AI Song Maker" app that creates original music from text inputs, similar to Suno and Udio's AI music generation capabilities.

As AI continues to evolve, it's poised to let anyone come up with a hit song, potentially shaking up the music industry's production pipeline. McCann believes that this could open up a new era in music, where the traditional barriers to entry are broken down, and anyone with a good idea and the right technology can make it big in the music world.

The flourishing of AI in music composition ignites discussions about the music industry's upcoming trajectory