Music legends Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA and Rosanne Cash, daughter of the iconic Johnny Cash, are teaming up with YouTube and Universal Music for a revolutionary AI project. The project has already enlisted the help of acclaimed musicians such as One Republic’s Ryan Tedder, composer Max Richter, record producer Louis Bell, Anitta, D4vd, American musician Don Was, Colombian musician Juanes, Rodney Jerkins, Yo Gotti, and the estate of Frank Sinatra.
Björn Ulvaeus spoke out on the project, saying, “I’ve joined this group with an open mind and purely out of curiosity about how an AI model works and what it could be capable of in a creative process. I believe that the more I understand, the better equipped I’ll be to advocate for and to help protect the rights of my fellow human creators.”
Max Richter added, “Like every new technology, AI brings with it opportunities, but it also raises profound challenges for the creative community. Therefore, I’m very happy to be part of the ‘artist incubator’ which will allow me to advocate for the interests of the creative community in the applications of AI to music and music distribution.”
Neal Mohan, Chief Executive of YouTube, shared in a blog post that AI helps enhance “music’s unique creative expression while also protecting music artists and the integrity of their work.” He added that the project has three primary objectives: embracing AI responsibly, appropriate protections, and scaling YouTube’s content policies to meet technological challenges.
In the past year alone, YouTube reported over 1.7 billion views of videos related to generative AI tools. Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and Chief Executive of Universal Music Group, stated, “Our challenge and opportunity as an industry is to establish effective tools, incentives and rewards – as well as rules of the road – that enable us to limit AI’s potential downside while promoting its promising upside. If we strike the right balance, I believe AI will amplify human imagination and enrich musical creativity in extraordinary new ways.”
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