AI in the Music Industry – Part 12: Google’s Magenta Studio and the WaveNet

Another company at the forefront of AI research and driving the transition from Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is Google and its parent company Alphabet. In particular, in the area of AI-generated music creation, Google created early AI applications with Magenta Studios, which ultimately opened the door to Artificial General Intelligence in music creation with WaveNet, developed by DeepMind. Both developments will be explored in this part of the blog series.

International Journal of Music Business Research – April 2024, vol. 13, nr. 1

Volume 13, no 1, April 2024

Editorial by Peter Tschmuck, p. 1

Alex Timewell: Music Business Education in the Global Creative Industries: Curriculum design, inclusive practice and measures of success, pp. 3-16

Xuejie Huang & Mei Foong Ang: Factors Predicting Singers’ Work Efficiency and Singers’ Singing Peak, pp. 17-26

Book review by Guy Morrow: ‘Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labour Markets and How We Will Win Them Back’ by Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin, pp. 27-28.

Book review by Guy Morrow: ‘Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem’ by Martin Clancy, pp. 29-31.

AI in the Music Industry – Part 11: Open AI and the GPT Technology

In 2023, Open AI’s “ChatGPT” caused a sensation. For the first time, AI has arrived at the heart of society and become accessible to the public. GPT technology is not only the basis of the popular chat bot, but is also used in the AI software “Jukebox”, which can compose music on its own without human intervention and can even imitate the voices of well-known artists. In part 11 of the “AI in the Music Industry” series, we take a look behind the scenes of Open AI and GPT technology, starting with the first experiments that Open AI conducted at Ars Electronica in Linz in order to continue composing Gustav Mahler’s 10th Symphony with the help of AI in 2019.

AI in the Music Industry – Part 10: François Pachet: The Continuator, Flow Machines and “Daddy’s Car”

An important pioneer in AI music creation was François Pachet, who originally worked at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris before moving to the SONY Computer Science Laboratory to experiment with AI in music improvisation. Among other things, he created the first AI that could interact with jazz musicians on stage in real time, as well as the first AI-generated pop song, “Daddy’s Car”. François Pachet’s role as a pioneer in AI music creation is highlighted in this part of the series “AI in the Music Industry”.

AI in the Music Industry – Part 9: Finishing the Unfinished

David Cope (see part 8 of the series) had already shown early on that it was possible to use artificial intelligence to imitate the compositional style of deceased musical greats. The next step was to take on greater challenges. To demonstrate the technical possibilities of AI, various projects have ventured to complete unfinished musical works. This part of the series “AI in the music industry” takes a closer look at some of them.

AI in the Music Industry – Part 8: Machines Create Music

It has always been a dream of mankind that music would not only be produced by instruments played by musicians, but that machines would be able to create music on their own. As early as the 18th century, music boxes that could play well-known melodies were very popular, and composers in the rank of Mozart and Beethoven were not above composing pieces for so-called musical clocks.  However, the theoretical foundations for a machine that could compose music as well as perform complex arithmetic tasks were laid in 1840 by Charles Babbage with his “Analytical Engine”. Based on this early vision of machine-based music creation, this part of the series “AI in the Music Industry” takes a closer look at music creation using computers since the 1980s.

Call-for-Papers for the 15th International Music Business Research Days 2024

15^th International Music Business Research Days (2024)

Music Ecosystem Research: Challenges and Opportunities

June 5 – 7, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Department of Journalism and Communication Research in collaboration with HYPE&FRIENDS, GMM e. V. and Austrian Music Business Research Association (AMBRA)

CALL FOR PAPERS

Music business research is an interdisciplinary field that puts different analytical approaches into mutual dialogue. It is located at the intersection of economic, artistic, musical, cultural, social, legal, and technological understandings of the creation, distribution, and use of music. This interdisciplinary nature calls for conceptual and methodological multiplicity and an openness to scholars from different fields.

The 15^th International Music Business Research Days 2024 will be hosted and organized by the Department of Journalism and Communication Research, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. The conference theme for Thursday June 6 is ‘ecosystem thinking’. The term ecosystem presents opportunities for better understanding the complexity, dynamics and interdependence within the new digital boundlessness of the music sector and music-related sectors. A sustainable development of them will only succeed if not only the market and contractual relationships within it are understood, but personal network relationships, data and AI as well as social and ecological environments are understood and used productively in the long term. This is significant not only for the music economy and music-related sectors, but for society and the planet. The ecosystem metaphor was first developed by the Chicago School of Sociology and it is constantly being rediscovered and developed. In this context, ecosystem theories are emerging to understand possible futures of the music sector. Ecosystem thinking has become a guiding idea within cultural and creative industries debates and in particular in management and strategic thinking as well as in the field of strategic economic and political consulting.

Friday June 7 is the open music business conference day. We invite papers that explore a variety of different approaches, questions, and methodologies for studying the music business, including, but not limited to, the following themes and topics:

• Different structures of ecosystems and their openness
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the music business
• Digital and ecosystem transformations and the future of the music sector
• New music networks and the rise of the creator economy
• Labour conditions, work-life balance, and mental health

By coming together for the 15^th International Music Business Research Days conference in Hannover in 2024 we will update interdisciplinary research and provide insights concerning how music ecosystem trends will affect business models, value-chains, and power dynamics in the music sector. It is critical that we discuss environmental, economic, and artistic sustainability. Further, we need to better understand effects of ecosystem transformations on artistic practices and processes, the division of labour, and the rise of the creator economy. We also need to understand established structures in the sector and related topics, such as labour conditions and mental health. We need critical and updated debates on what competencies are needed in the future for the music business and music ecosystems.

SUBMISSION

Please submit your abstract by April 10^th, 2024 to imbra@ijk.hmtm-hannover.de. Abstracts should be between 300-500 words (any references are included in the word count) and should include:

• Objectives of the research and research question
• Brief description of the disciplinary/theoretical context/background
• Data and methods
• Main or expected conclusions / contribution

Abstracts will be subject to a peer review process by an international jury, and authors will be notified of acceptance until April 15, 2024.

REGISTRATION FEE

Registration will be open from March 11th to June 7th 2024. The fee includes conference attendance, reception, coffee breaks and the conference barbecue on June 7^th.

Registration/Conference fee Euro 175,–; IMBRA & GMM Members 125,– and Students 50,–. Please register via https://ntry.at/IMBRD2024?l=en

The best papers of the conference will be considered for publication in a special issue of the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR). In case you want to be eligible for this special issue, full papers should be sent before June 30^th, 2024. They should not exceed 7,000 words (including abstracts, figures, tables, references and appendices) and follow the author guidelines of the International Journal of Music Business Research (IJMBR). A first selection will be made after the conference by the editors, after which a double-blind peer review process is in place for these submissions.

IMBRA CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION The conference is organized by:

• IJK, Departement of Journalism and Communication Research, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
• Conference Organizer Prof. Dr. Carsten Winter (Media & Music Management)

IMBRA IMPORTANT DATES & CONTACT

• April 10^th: Abstract submission deadline
• April 15^th:Notification of acceptance
• June 5th to 7th: Conference
• June 30^th: Delivery of full paper for consideration for publication
• If you have any Questions, please contact: imbra@ijk.hmtm-hannover.de
• Further information: https://hypeandfriends.org/ (… about hotels & more …)

Find the pdf-version of the Call-for-Papers here: https://musicbusinessresearch.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/final_cfp-15th-imbrds-2024-at-hanover-university-of-music-drama-and-media.pdf

Call-for-Papers for the Young Scholars’ Workshop of the 15th International Music Business Research Days 2024

The Young Scholars’ Workshop is part of the 15th International Music Business Research Days. Young researchers are invited to submit abstracts from all disciplinesexploring questions that help understand economic and managerial problems as well as processes in the music sector and in the field of music management. The Young Scholars’ Workshop will be co-organized by the IJK and the GMM e.V., the German branch of the IMBRA: A society for music business and music culture research.

We encourage early-stage researchers, either in the beginning of their doctorate projects, or in the beginning of their academic careers, to submit paper abstracts. There are many questions that call for investigation in music business research, for example, in the fields of ecosystem transformations, the fields of digital change (AI, streaming, DIY, fan engagement, change in business models, markets and value creation), in Policy & Legislation (sustainability, cultural policy, commercialization and entrepreneurship) and in Education & Research (ecosystem entrepreneurship, new competences, music and health, curriculum in music business in its broadest sense, and the preparation of students for a sustainable future of music ecosystems J).

These research questions are not exhaustive, papers may also address other aspects. The workshop organizers strongly encourage submissions from students at all levels of MA & PhD. Students are supposed to work on their MA or PhD thesis and discuss it with senior researchers of music business research.

SUBMISSION: Please submit your abstract by April 10^th 24 to imbra@ijk.hmtm-hannover.de Abstracts should be 500 up to 750 words (any references are included in the word count) and should include:

• Objectives of the research and research question
• Brief description of the disciplinary/theoretical context/background
• Data and methods
• Main or expected conclusions / contribution

Please email your proposal with “YSW 2024”. Proposals must be submitted as pdf-documents and should include contact information, at least affiliation, e-mail address, telephone number and postal address of the author(s).

A maximum of 6-8 papers will be selected for presentation to guarantee a good workshop atmosphere. The sessions will combine paper presentations and discussions. Information on the acceptance of the paper proposal will be sent until April 15^th, 2024, at the latest. The Young Scholars Research Day will take place on June 5^th.

Find the pdf-version of the Call-for-Paper here: https://musicbusinessresearch.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/final_cfp_ysrd-at-the-15th-imbrds-2024-at-hanover-university-of-music-drama-and-media.pdf

AI in the Music Industry – Part 7: AI in Music Production

An early application of artificial intelligence is in production music. This involves the creation of music databases that can be used by producers of TV and feature films, commercials and games to acquire music at low cost. Another area of music production where AI has become indispensable is the mastering of music recordings, which used to require a good ear and a lot of experience but is now increasingly being taken over by AI applications. In this part of series “AI in the Music Industry”, we, therefore, highlight the role of AI in music production.

AI in the Music Industry – Part 6: Fake Streams and Streaming Farms

Spotify was one of the first streaming services to use AI technology to successfully persuade users to use its service. However, Spotify has also been accused of misusing AI to create fake artists in order to get a bigger slice of the streaming pie. The misuse of AI to manipulate music streams is the dark side of the AI revolution in music streaming, and even led to a prosecutor’s investigation into music streaming service Tidal in Norway. Although the case was eventually dropped, it draws attention to the growing influence of AI-generated content being played on a loop via illegal streaming farms, which in turn can only be detected by AI anti-fraud tools. We are therefore witnessing a real war between streaming fraudsters and anti-fraud fighters, which goes hand in hand with the improvement of AI technologies. This is the subject of the sixth part of our series on AI in the music industry.