Voice-Swap

Thanks to Billboard for this exclusive interview with our CEO Dan Stein / DJ Fresh and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Michael Pelczynski. In it, they outline our vision for where we see AI voice modelling going – not a novelty 'magic trick', but a new form of monetisable intellectual property for artists. We paid our first royalties for the use of AI voices in January, something we're very proud of. Unlike other examples, our artists are paid their royalty split at the point of inference, as well as through traditional royalties on streaming platforms, if the music made with their voices is released. We see ourselves as an agency, representing artists and their voices, securing passive income across royalties, licensing, partnerships, collaborations, features and many more opportunities. The tech facilitates those opportunities, but it's the artists who benefit. After all, it's their voice, their career and their talent. Read the exclusive interview below 👇 https://lnkd.in/ePS3zayK

We recently had the honour of creating an AI voice model for the world-famous soprano Asmik Grigorian for the historic Salzburg Festival, in collaboration with CultTech Association. Asmik's AI voice premiered during a discussion on AI, creativity and humanity on Thursday, August 15th in a packed auditorium. Given the wide range of styles, octaves and dynamics in operatic singing, creating an AI voice for a soprano was a new challenge for our team, and introduced many hurdles to overcome. You can hear the results of our work, and read more about the technical process behind its creation, in our blog post here: https://lnkd.in/e6iJjKgQ The goal of this project was not to create a replacement but rather to demonstrate how this technology could create discussion, debate and even disagreement. AI is still in its infancy, and while we can clone timbres, tones and textures, we were not attempting to entirely replace the lifetime of emotion and the disciplined training that goes into an operatic performance. Performance is entirely human, and as this technology continues to develop, it is in the merging of human artistic and creative endeavours with revolutionary technology where new ideas flourish. From sampling to synthesizers, drum machines and auto-tune, it is always the human behind the tech that defines its impact. Long may that continue. Thank you to Alexey Steblev for trusting us with this task and to our team members Ausrine Skarnulyte Declan McGlynn and 👨🏻💻 Lester Violeta for their work on this project. Special thanks to Ruzanna Nahapetjan, AudioShake Jessica Powell, ALPHA CLASSICS LIMITED, Michael Pelczynski and the whole Voice-Swap team. *Asmik's AI voice 'performed' Komitas's 'Krunk', from a recording by Ruzanna Nahapetjan, piano by Roderigo Robles De Medina.

"There is a feeling, within the company, that we are fighting for the cause of artists,” Stein says. “And not just artists; we respect the importance of labels, rights holders, distribution companies. We don’t want the music industry to end up in the hands of technologists who don’t care about music." Thanks to Music Tech Magazine for this in-depth interview with Voice-Swap CEO Dan Stein / DJ Fresh. In it, Dan outlines our vision for a world where AI and creativity can co-exist. As the quote below says, we're witnessing a "gold rush" in AI, where ambulance chasers are swooping in, 'breaking stuff' and attempting to run off with the spoils, without any consideration for the creatives who built this industry they are desperate to exploit. Big tech has already had a devastating impact on many artists' livelihoods and as we enter a new era of creative technology, it's vital that artists are at the table when decisions about their future are being made. After all, if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. Read the full interview below 👇 and thanks to Sam Willings and Clovis McEvoy

Voice-Swap is up for several panels at SXSW this year, including this excellent topic 'The Price of Speech: Monetizations in the Voice Economy' featuring our Chief Strategic and Innovation Officer Michael Pelczynski, alongside Virginie Berger, Loredana Cacciotti and Jake Beaumont-Nesbitt. It's an all-star lineup and a vital topic for the music industry and beyond, and we'd love your vote – click the link below and see you in Austin 🙏🏻

Voice-Swap's Michael Pelczynski and Benn Jordan were recent guests on the Top Music Attorney's YouTube channel, discussing why everyone is "so angry" on both sides of the AI music argument. They talk about why broken streaming economics makes creators more nervous about new tech, why anger about AI music is slightly misguided and why declining Google searches for "music" might not mean what you think it does. Watch the preview of their interview below, and subscribers to Top Music Attorney can watch the whole thing on their YouTube channel. https://lnkd.in/diEQw-N7

A few months ago, we announced a groundbreaking partnership with BMAT Music Innovators – a certification that promotes fairness, transparency and trust in AI and music. Now, BMAT has outlined how it works, why it was created and what the future might hold for voice cloning, rights and the music industry. BMAT's existing Music OS tech stack is extremely powerful, referencing 30 billion data points A DAY across internet content and broadcast audio to attribute and track rights and permissions. We're proud to have conceived this concept with them and to point the way for a more transparent and fair future for AI and music. Read all about it here 👇 https://lnkd.in/di4tMENz

52 AI Music Tools. 5 Categories. (Save this for later.) Music creation: ↳ Create original music, loops, & samples effortlessly. Mixing & Mastering: ↳ Create studio-quality, balanced tracks instantly. Stem separation: ↳ Separate & edit individual music elements. AI voice tools: ↳ Clone, change, generate multilingual voiceovers. Media generator: ↳ Create music videos, artwork, visuals & more Staying on top of AI in music = Staying on top of tools. ♻️ Repost this to help your network get up-to-date. PS: I write a newsletter about growing music careers with AI. I am a former broke musician. I know the struggles. Over 800+ music creators get ahead each week. You’re not. Get access here 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/dJHSTJ-y #ai #artificialintelligence #music #musicproduction #musicindustry

Thank you to Cherie Hu and Water & Music for including our revolutionary partnership with BMAT Music Innovators in their Music AI Content and Copyright Detection report. Water and Music has been a leading light in music tech research for years and has been a big inspiration for Voice-Swap and the team so to be included here is an honour. It's also a testament to BMAT, and the wider Voice-Swap team that we could create a technical solution to audit training data for copyrighted content – something we believe should – and will – become an industry standard. Huge respect too to the other companies listed here, we are all attempting to calm the turbulent AI waters and forge a safer future for artists and the wider music industry. Despite what some tech platforms might say, consent and compensation are possible 🙏🏻

It was an honour to be asked to talk about AI, ethics and Voice-Swap on Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. (TBS) this week. Big up our CEO Dan Stein / DJ Fresh! Still so much work to be done all over the world on this topic 🫡

"Streaming has gutted the middle class of artists, shifting rewards to those who own catalogues at scale — micro-pennies mean little to those with three albums, but can mean a lot to labels with 30,000. AI, too, relies on scale: the more quality data you hoard, the more valuable your asset for licensees. Once again, this leaves independent artists sidelined with little voice or influence over the emerging tech that can define their future. And if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu." Read our Communications Director Declan McGlynn wrote an op-ed for Music Tech Magazine on the latest lawsuits in AI and music, the good news and the bad news and what they might mean for artists if and when a settlement is reached ✍🏻 https://lnkd.in/euGZ5rAz