TECHNOLOGY: The Future of AI in Music Streaming
By: Jesenia Chatman
The music streaming industry has seen exponential growth in recent years due to the unique personalized experience it provides to its listeners. Artificial Intelligence has allowed platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music to spot trends in data to provide users with curated playlists, customized music discovery, and listening habits.
The possibilities with AI seem to be limitless. So, what does that say about the future and the way we stream music? Let’s dive in!
Consumer Loyalty through AI
Streaming services seem to be battling it out for who can create the most unique experience for their users. With the majority of music being readily available on a range of platforms, companies are left to discover exciting new ways to keep their current users on their platforms and to attract new ones.
Spotify, one of the leading music streaming services with over 500 million monthly users, has been able to combine AI with its mountain of user data to create its newest feature, AI DJ. This new personalized DJ can guide a user through a tracklist of their favorite songs with added commentary that sounds just like a real DJ.
One of the most exciting features that cause annual hype around this time of year is the round-up of a user's top music they listen to throughout the year. Users can see their favorite genres, top songs, and what albums got the most play time all in one place. This feature has been done by Apple Music with their Apple Replay and Spotify with their Wrapped.
So, why is the yearly round-up an important feature for marketers in retaining consumers? Well, the round-up can act as an incentive for users who have used their platform for a long time. Someone who tends to hop around different music streaming services could be persuaded to stick with one platform if they see their friends posting their yearly wrap-up and having fun with it.
AI Music Generation Making Headway
Photos and videos aren’t the only thing being artificially constructed these days. Music seems to be the newest medium that AI has found a niche in and it is quickly growing in popularity.
While engineers may never be able to replicate the natural emotions and soul of a natural human voice, AI music generation is aiming to get as close as possible to the real thing. Using machine learning that’s fed with Big Data, AI synthesizers can self-compose and produce tone, repetition, pitch, and notes to sync it with external instruments.
Will AI-curated music make its way into streaming services? Well, it seems the ball is already rolling. The generative AI music company Endel recently partnered with Amazon Music to produce wellness playlists using their AI tech.
This isn’t the first time the tech company has introduced its AI music into the industry. Endel has previously produced 20 albums, with the help of Warner Music Group, and saw their release on platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and Deezer.
How are Streaming Services Playing a Part?
AI technology seems to be taking it a step further within the Industry. The newest streaming platform Musixy.ai, exclusively caters to AI song generation, letting users create their rendition of popular songs using AI technology.
One concern Musixy.ai has made a point to address is the legality issues one might face when using AI vocals that are built off the voices of known artists. The company states “Anyone can use and monetize AI vocals of famous singers at will and for free if they are marked as “unofficial”. Currently, federal law states streaming platforms can’t be held liable for copyright infringement if illegal work is uploaded to their site.
The future of AI technology within the music industry doesn’t seem to be slowing down, and streaming platforms appear to be onboard with the shift in the paradigm of music creation. With many conflicting opinions surrounding the topic of AI technology in the creative world, one might wonder how this may lead to future battles between AI technology and recording artists.
