MANY artificial intelligence software programs are now capable of being creative and making up songs from scratch. This has prompted ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to launch its own AI system to accelerate its growth in the music sector.
This application is called Ripple. The group describes it as a tool for "music creation, composition and audio editing." It relies on a subtle set of algorithms to help its users design and create, from A to Z, the next track to sweep the charts or the TikTok social network. Ripple revolves around two main features, reports the specialist website Music Business Worldwide, which was able to test the application.
The first is a 'melody-to-song' generator. The idea is simple: music lovers simply hum a tune into their phone's microphone, and Ripple transforms it into a full-blown song. In other words, the software takes care of creating an instrumental accompaniment for the melody sung, in a variety of genres. Users simply choose the one that they like best. They can also personalise the song by changing the tempo (BPM) or adding audio effects until they are satisfied with the final result. Note, however, that Ripple produces songs as long as the melodies that are inputted.
This AI software also includes a 'virtual recording studio' that lets users edit their own audio files, just like a pro music producer.
Excitement and concern
For the time being, Ripple can only create instrumental accompaniments, not vocal ones. This is linked to the large number of songs with which its algorithms have been trained. ByteDance claims to be the owner or rights holder of the songs used to train its new AI model, according to Music Business Worldwide.
This statement above all seeks to reassure industry professionals who have expressed concern about copyright infringement by software that generates new songs. That's why, in mid-March, some 40 organisations representing artists, performers and composers launched a petition to defend their interests in the face of artificial intelligence. They call for greater transparency regarding the sources used by music generation programs, as well as greater respect for "artists, their work and their personas."
If the music industry is mobilising in the face of this technology, it's because artificial intelligence software capable of generating songs is multiplying at pace. Microsoft, Google and Meta have recently launched projects of this kind. ByteDance's Ripple was launched on June 30 to a small group of US-based beta-testers. The app is available by invitation only, on iOS. The Chinese company has not yet announced when it plans to make it available more broadly. – ETX Daily Up, July 6, 2023
