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Mar 6 2023

🔵 Let's legalise sampling and clone our artists into AI bots

The latest news from the music and tech industries
Hi there -

Should sampling be legalised? Now there's a question - and I'd imagine most of you are reading this thinking "hell no!". Sometimes fundamental questions should be asked however, and arguably the arrival of De La Soul's classic albums - some sporting re-recorded parts on the basis samples couldn't be cleared - is something of a backdrop for the debate in a terrific article below from Dan Charnas.

Alongside Charnas' article is another detailing how Google Assistant has been trained to spot samples within tracks to a molecular level, sometimes succeeding with just one second of audio.  Hiding those uncleared samples in future then could get near-impossible.

To be clear, my own view is that sampling is a deeply nuanced topic, but I think that's why Charnas' article is so interesting, asking as it does whether some kind of agreed framework could be put in place to allow more freedom. It is certainly food for thought, even if in reality I doubt much will change, not least because the incumbent rights holders have zero motivation to do so.

Elsewhere, another pair of articles compliment one another well. Much is being made of a new AI startup which can mimic famous personalities, which has just been valued at $1bn.

Take one look at social media on this topic and it's largely people telling you it will blow up in the company's face, and soon.

I prefer a more nuanced view, and it is the other article complimenting this one that speaks to that.

Perhaps AI should be seen as an aid to fan engagement and the existence of artists at a time where burnout is a very real issue, coupled with a sense that there is a need to be always on.

In that context, AI bots might sound heretical to some, but I wonder if that wouldn't be the case if 1) fans are growing up with them natively, and 2) the bots in question are approved by the artists themselves.

Have a read on both topics below - some great food for thought in there.

Have a great evening,

D.

🎶 written whilst listening to "Rhythm & Sound - With The Artists". As a long-standing fan of Mark Ernestus and his work with Maurizio on the groundbreaking Basic Channel label/entity, I couldn't believe my luck when they released these albums as Rhythm & Sound, which saw the pair step far more into the dub reggae space that their techno efforts so heavily drew influence from. Minimal, studied, hissing with ambience, these are some phenomenal works. Dive in. 
Stories from the Music Industry:
De La Soul streaming: It's time to legalize sampling.
Of course, we are in a political moment when our democracy itself is at risk, and much of our Congress is beholden to corporate interests. But this has also been a moment in which we’ve been reenvisioning many of our institutions and ending dynamics that we’ve long taken for granted. Imagine, now, a world in which we can reconcile our conception of art so that the artists that we adore aren’t outlaws for making the music we love.

👆🏻Hot take: a complex, nightmarish topic to navigate... but the article raises some important questions here. 
A Sample Hunting member by the name of DJPasta found a new way to utilize the technology to the fullest: "I figured out a method to run audio directly from my PC into Google Assistant with software called Bluestacks. I was mostly trying out a few Todd Edwards samples that I'd been looking for at the time. To my surprise, Google Assistant's song recognition found most of them. Eventually, I had the idea to try out shorter samples, like Carrie Lucas' 'Sometimes a Love Goes Wrong.'"

👆🏻Hot take: something of a companion piece to the article above. If AI can recognise samples to such a granular extent, where does that leave sampling?
This future of the music industry can’t rely on AI to simply create more music, it needs higher-quality relationships between fans and artists. AI can still play a role in realising this, like K-Pop’s AI chatbots, but building fan obsession to this point requires consistent and authentic connections to the people behind the music.

👆🏻Hot take: arguably this speaks to the chatbot startup article above. Could these platforms be used by artists to create further engagement and access, at a time where artists are burning out? 
Novelty stuff? A novelty that’s worth $1bn in the eyes of investors. The Financial Times reported that Character·AI has just raised a funding round of between $200m and $250m at a $1bn valuation, led by one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent VC firms Andreessen Horowitz. Chatbots based on famous people aren’t a new idea: there was a brief phase of music industry excitement around artist chatbots on Facebook Messenger a few years ago for example.

👆🏻Hot take: potentially problematic for sure - unless the artists in question engaged with it. 
Snoop Dogg is backing the launch of a new app called Shiller, which blends livestreaming and NFTs. Due to launch in April, it’s an app for creators of all kinds to “token-gate their video and audio, share products from commerce sites, and promote popular NFTs”. A tips economy is built in too, with fans able to give tips and virtual gifts, and there are tools to launch tokens and digital passes within Shiller’s marketplace, and promoted during livestreams.

👆🏻Hot take: as a fan of "NFT as functional object" I like the idea of NFTs to token-gate access to live streams. One to keep an eye on. 
There are two possibilities here. One, the Spotifys of the world could become the mainstream centres for passive listening, morphing into the next generation’s version of radio. Meanwhile, fandom and culture would happen on other platforms — either social ones, like TikTok, or on another streaming service that differentiates by going the opposite direction (i.e., SoundCloud, Tidal). The other possibility is that streaming services work to better serve active fans as well as passive ones.

👆🏻Hot take: great article here from Midia highlighting the need to recognise the different types of fans on streaming services (or, service those fans via other platforms)
Stories from the Broader World of Tech:
Social Media Is Changing, And Paid Accounts Are The Response
So, rather than an oppressive tax on everyday people, lets see these paid social subscriptions for what they are: A product for a new social media era serving those still posting.

👆🏻Hot take: I see the logic here, but I've also not seen anyone around me pay for Twitter Blue or any other premium tier of social network.... yet. 
However, a UK ban has been ruled out by Michelle Donelan, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology. Speaking to Politico this week, she said: “We have no evidence to suggest that there is a necessity to ban people from using TikTok. That would be a very, very forthright move … that would require a significant evidence base to be able to do that.”

👆🏻Hot take: much of this article is repeating what's been covered previously, but the UK Govt confirming it has no plan to ban TikTok is both surprising and telling. Perhaps the US is more alone in its position here than previously thought? 
Need something else to read? Here you go:
What drum machines can teach us about artificial intelligence
As AI drum machines embrace humanising imperfections, what does this mean for ‘real’ drummers and the soul of music?

👆🏻Hot take: a terrific read looking at the role of creativity in the age of AI, viewed from the perspective of drum machines and how we've developed our use of them over the years. Sounds odd, but it's a brilliant article, trust me. 
As a chef, I was hesitant to get an air fryer at first, but now I can't get enough of it. I make everything from grilled cheese to French toast in it.

👆🏻Hot take: if you're wavering on getting an air fryer (as I am) then this might just tip you over into buying one, heheh
Now this-a-here story I’m about to unfold revolves around a pair of upstanding American filmmakers and a little movie the duo crafted two decades prior.

👆🏻Hot take: I love this movie. One of the classics, and this is a fine article about it. 
The latest from Motive Unknown:
Two dreamworlds collide as Shygirl has enlisted Tinashe for a new rework of “Heaven.” 

The track comes from Nymph_o, a deluxe edition of Shygirl’s 2022 full-length. We’re thrilled to be on board with Because Music, handling the digital ad strategy for this release. 🦋
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