A Little Help From AI: The Beatles and the Future of Music
After releasing their new song, “Now and Then”, the Beatles started a discourse on the application of AI in the music industry. Experts and fans are divided on whether or not AI should play a major role in new records, which stems from the ethics around using deceased people’s work to make profitable tracks.
Over sixty years after their first No. 1 hit, the Beatles returned to the top of the charts with “Now and Then”. This wistful, longing track fits perfectly into the Beatles discography and is a bittersweet end to the acclaim surrounding the band. It may not be as psychedelic or breathtaking as “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Hey Jude,” but the song does not disappoint as a quintessentially “Beatlesque” record. Critics, fans, and fellow musicians have differing opinions on “Now and Then,” some calling it a new classic and others finding it passable when compared to previous Beatles tracks. Before its release, many fans voiced their unease around the use of AI in the creation of “Now and Then” because they found it unnecessary and odd to make a song featuring the deceased Beatles’ voices. The controversy continued after its release, but about the presence of AI, not with the song itself. Most seem to agree that a Beatles song is better than no new Beatles song, which makes it a welcomed farewell.
The song’s lifespan began in 1978 when John Lennon wrote the lyrics and recorded the original demo. In 1995, long after Lennon’s death, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison attempted to finish the song while retaining Lennon’s vocals This proved unsuccessful at the time, and the project was abandoned until 2023, when AI audio technology was able to extract and add Lennon’s voice to the new recording through an audio restoration process. In addition to Lennon’s original vocals, the AI restoration sampled from the Beatles songs “Eleanor Rigby” and “Because” to add as additional background vocals. Rumors spread that Lennon’s vocals were completely made by AI, when in reality software was used to highlight Lennon’s voice, not create it for the record.
The debate around “Now and Then” has been spurred by the use of AI technology in the production of the record, with many saying it has an unnatural (or perhaps artificial?) sound quality. The continual AI argument leads to the question of how AI restoration will influence the future of music. The Beatles are not the first band to release posthumous tracks, but they are the first to speak about the role of AI restoration. Without the help of AI, this Beatles song would not have come to fruition, because Lennon’s vocals were originally too difficult to separate from the piano on his original demo.
Even before this globally recognized example, the music industry had begun to use AI through streaming services such as Spotify to create playlists for listeners and enhance the user experience. However, AI could soon be used to create new songs as well, due to its ability to quickly generate lyrics and chords, and mimic artists’ voices. This last point is especially problematic for musicians because there are clips on social media of AI-created songs that copy famous voices like Drake and Bad Bunny. This points to a major fear in the music industry that AI may try to replace artists by becoming a songwriter, producer, and singer all rolled into one. The worry around AI is valid but should be taken with a grain of salt because musicians, and fans, wholeheartedly believe that AI could never replicate the emotional connection between artists and listeners.
Advancements in technology will also lead to an influx of posthumous works as more sound technicians can pull vocals or instrument recordings from unreleased demos. In the upcoming years, more and more artists will release posthumous records that may have been impossible without AI. These unique recordings could lead to new classics from iconic artists, or they may result in an outpouring of mediocre songs that would have been better left off as demos.