philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

THIS ROBOT RAPPER HAS 9M FOLLOWERS ON TIKTOK. THE COMPANY THAT CREATED HIM THINKS TRADITIONAL A&R IS ‘INEFFICIENT AND UNRELIABLE’

Is being human still a prerequisite for being an ‘artist’?

We don’t mean the ability to display humanity. We quite literally mean: does an artist really need to be a human to be considered an actual artist, who can perform and record music, generate streams, market singles and albums, and build a fanbase?

The answer to that question, according to Anthony Martini, co-founder of ‘virtual’ record label Factory New, is no.

Factory New describes itself as a “first of its kind, next-generation music company, specializing in virtual beings”. Its roster is comprised exclusively of virtual artists.

The firm’s first ‘signing’ was AI-powered robot rapper, FN Meka, who has 9 million followers (and over a billion views) on TikTok.

Technically speaking FN Meka is voiced by a human. But as you’ll learn here, everything else about him – from his lyrics to the chords and tempo underpinning his music – is based on AI.

... If a song is good, people will listen to it. Maybe the fact that it’s made by a robot makes it even more interesting. Not to get all philosophical but, what is an “artist” today? Think about the biggest stars in the world. How many of them are just vessels for commercial endeavors?

Most hits are written by teams of people who get paid to make music that will “sell”. We think machines can eventually run this process more efficiently than humans. How many fans ever actually meet the stars they idolize anyway?

See the full story here: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/this-robot-rapper-has-9-million-followers-on-tiktok-his-creator-thinks-traditional-ar-is-inefficient-and-unreliable/