Over 1,000 songs with human-mimicking AI vocals have been released by Tencent Music in China. One of them has 100m streams.

MBW’s Stat Of The Week is a collection during which we spotlight a single knowledge level that deserves the eye of the worldwide music business. Stat Of the Week is supported by Cinq Music Group, a technology-driven file label, distribution, and rights administration firm.

Using synthetic intelligence-created music simply moved up a gear.

We’re not speaking about AI in mere instrumental music production, however the usage of machine studying to truly mimic and even recreate human vocals – rendering the necessity for an actual singer out of date.

MBW first explored this subject final March, during which we analyzed the long-term implications of HYBE’s investment into (and subsequent acquisition of) Korea-based Synthetic Intelligence firm Supertone – which claims that its AI tech can create “a hyper-realistic and expressive voice [not] distinguishable from actual people”.

Now, over in China, issues have reached the following stage: Tencent Music Leisure (TME) says that it has created and launched over 1,000 tracks containing vocals created by AI tech that mimics the human voice.

And get this: certainly one of these tracks has already surpassed 100 million streams.

In the course of the three months to finish of September, TME rolled out what it refers to as “patented voice synthesis expertise”, the Lingyin Engine. This tech, says TME, can “shortly and vividly replicate singers’ voices to provide authentic songs of any fashion and language”.

A part of TME’s preliminary work utilizing the Lingyin Engine concerned growing “artificial voices in reminiscence of legendary artists” such because the late Teresa Teng, and the late Anita Mui.

(‘Resurrecting’ the voice of a deceased star is one thing HYBE’s Supertone gained a lot of media attention for final yr: The corporate used its personal tech to recreate the voice of South Korean folks celebrity Kim Kwang-seok.)

Cussion Pang, TME’s Govt Chairman, defined to analysts earlier right this moment (November 15) that TME used the Lingyin Engine to “pay tribute” to Anita Mui by “creating an AI code based mostly on her [voice]” for a brand new observe – Could You Be Handled Kindly By This World [English transation] – launched in assist of the New Sunshine Charity Foundation in China.

“[This track] has develop into the primary track by an AI singer to be streamed over 100 million occasions throughout the web.”

Cussion Pang, Tencent Music Leisure

Teresa Teng’s voice was recreated by TME/the Lingyin Engine to guide the observe Letter Not Despatched [English translation], launched earlier this yr to mark the anniversary of the Taiwanese star’s dying.

TME additionally confirmed right this moment (November 15) that – along with “paying tribute” to the vocals of lifeless artists by way of the Lingyin Engine – it has additionally created “an AI singer lineup with the voices of trending [i.e currently active] stars equivalent to Yang Chaoyue, amongst others”.

As talked about, by the tip of September, TME says it had created and launched over 1,000 songs with human-style vocals manufactured by the Lingyin Engine.

A type of tracks has set the usual for reputation: TME’s Cussion Pang confirmed this morning to analysts {that a} model of 1 track, which seems to be known as At this time (English translation), “has develop into the primary track by an AI singer to be streamed over 100 million occasions throughout the web”.

The place might all of this go subsequent?

For one factor, the thoughts inevitably wanders to the truth that over 100,000 tracks are actually being uploaded to main international music streaming providers each single day.

The place might that determine scale as much as if limitless tracks are actually being born with uncanny human-esque AI vocals?

It’s additionally value remembering what Choi Hee-doo, the COO of Supertone – that’s the Korean AI voice-creation platform – stated final yr, when pondering how the tech would possibly evolve.

“For instance, BTS is actually busy lately, and it’d be unlucky if they will’t take part in content material as a consequence of lack of time,” the exec informed CNN.

“So, if BTS makes use of our expertise when making video games or audiobooks or dubbing an animation… they wouldn’t essentially should file [that audio live] in particular person.”

Apparently, Okay-pop firm HYBE’s largest natural income driver in Q3 2022 was its Artist ‘Oblique-involvement’ enterprise line, which sees the name and likeness of celebrity artists equivalent to BTS utilized in different areas like video games and promoting with out requiring the band’s energetic participation.

HYBE has now doubled down on its AI-generated voice plans, by totally acquiring Supertone in October in a $32 million deal.

Certainly, when HYBE confirmed that BTS can be enlisting within the military final month, HYBE CEO Jiwon Park, breaking down HYBE’s technique with out its top-earning act, stated that the corporate’s newly acquired AI voice startup will “function a key piece of the expertise sphere we purpose to create”.

He added: “HYBE plans to unveil new content material and providers to our followers by combining our content-creation capabilities with Supertone’s AI-based talking and singing vocal synthesis expertise.”

Along with HYBE and TME, there’s additionally one other big of the expertise and music world that appears to be betting huge on AI: TikTok and its dad or mum firm ByteDance.

Again in July 2019,  ByteDance acquired Jukedeck, a UK-based AI Music startup that specialised in creating royalty-free music for user-generated on-line movies.

In Could, ByteDance launched Mawf, a machine-learning pushed music-making app that analyses incoming audio alerts after which “re-renders” these alerts utilizing what it says is machine studying fashions of musical devices. ByteDance additionally just lately launched a music creation app in China known as ‘Sponge Band’ in response to Tech Planet.

This yr, as first reported by MBW, the corporate has been doubling down on its AI-powered music-making ambitions by way of a hiring spree for AI music specialists.

TikTok is particularly (and currently) hiring for a Analysis Scientist in Speech Synthesis in California. TikTok says that this particular person will “lead analysis to advance science and expertise in Pure Language Processing and Speech Processing (e.g., Speech Synthesis, ASR)”.

They will even “analysis, mannequin, design, develop and consider novel machine studying fashions and algorithms”.

It’s additionally hiring for a Analysis Scientist in Speech & Audio, in Seattle, Singapore and Mountain View.

TikTok says that this group’s focus is “on cutting-edge R&D in areas like speech & audio, music processing, pure language understanding and multimodal deep studying”.

May TikTok – which runs its personal artist distribution service SoundOn, and is reportedly preparing to broaden its Resso music service into extra markets – launch tracks within the close to future (identical to Tencent Music) both totally created by AI, or that includes ‘AI artificial voices’?

If it did, what wouldn’t it imply for its relationship with the music business?

Cinq Music Group’s repertoire has won Grammy awards, dozens of Gold and Platinum RIAA certifications, and numerous No.1 chart positions on a variety of Billboard charts. Its repertoire includes heavyweights such as Bad Bunny, Janet Jackson, Daddy Yankee, T.I., Sean Kingston, Anuel, and hundreds more.Music Enterprise Worldwide