![Music platform CEO says AI is not the enemy](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/bc/b3/ac/Music-platform-CEO-says-AI-is-not-t-046991.jpg)
-
Jamaica's De Cordova-Reid joins Leicester from Fulham
-
Wolves' Kilman reunites with Lopetegui at West Ham
-
Schmidt reign off to winning start as Australia beat Wales 25-16
-
Russian wrestlers reject Olympics invitation
-
Raducanu rediscovers Wimbledon 'fun' factor after turbulent spell
-
Winning all that matters at Euro 2024 for Mbappe's minimalist France
-
Eight dead, two million affected by Bangladesh floods
-
Robertson pleased to 'find a way' past England in tough Test baptism
-
Martin sets lap record to secure German MotoGP pole
-
'Shattered' Germany set sights on World Cup after Euros exit
-
Olympic hope Pedersen pulls out of Tour de France
-
Djokovic eyes sweet 16 at Wimbledon as Swiatek takes on 'gangster'
-
End beckons again for Ronaldo after Portugal Euros KO
-
New Zealand edge England 16-15 in tense, brutal first Test
-
Turkey take on Dutch in politically charged Euros quarter-final, England face Swiss
-
Calling for better ties with West, Iran reformist wins presidency
-
Cybercrime groups restructuring after major takedowns: experts
-
Activists hail Sierra Leone child marriage ban, urge action on FGM
-
Marsch relishing Canada's semi clash with Argentina
-
Canada stun Venezuela on penalties to reach Copa semis
-
Iran reformist Pezeshkian holds early lead in runoff vote
-
Swiatek faces 'gangster' threat, Djokovic feels need for Wimbledon speed
-
France holds its breath ahead of uncertain vote
-
Starmer begins UK 'rebuild' after landslide election win
-
Paris's Moulin Rouge inaugurates new windmill sails ahead of Olympics
-
Pan, Rai share halfway lead in PGA John Deere Classic
-
'I was feeling terrible' in debate, Biden says in TV interview
-
France coach Deschamps savours ending penalty hoodoo, defends Mbappe
-
Thompson bids farewell to Warriors after exit
-
Portugal exit Euros with pride, will return stronger: Martinez
-
UK's new PM Starmer speaks to world leaders, names top team
-
Spain and France to face off in Euros last four, Turkey lament 'unfair' Demiral ban
-
Israel says negotiators to hold fresh Gaza truce talks next week
-
France beat Portugal on penalties to reach Euro 2024 semi-finals
-
Endrick to start for Brazil in Uruguay Copa clash: Dorival
-
Heartbreak for Germany fans after dramatic Euros exit
-
Beryl heads for Texas after causing damage, no deaths in Mexico
-
Nagelsmann laments late penalty decision as hosts Germany exit Euros
-
Biden declares he's all in ahead of high-risk TV interview
-
Spain team 'is a winning horse', says De la Fuente
-
Bows at the ready, Chad villagers battle kidnappings
-
Alcaraz mimics Bellingham goal celebration after Wimbledon win
-
Olmo hopes Pedri can make speedy return for Euros semi-finalists Spain
-
Retiring Kroos hopeful despite Germany's 'bitter' Euros exit
-
Southgate turns on English 'entitlement' over claims of easy Euros draw
-
Merino extra-time goal sends Spain past Germany to Euro semis
-
Koeman demands Dutch silence fervent Turkish fans at Euros
-
Brad Pitt at Silverstone for filming of F1 movie
-
Raducanu storms into Wimbledon last 16
-
California fires spread in July 4 weekend heatwave
![Music platform CEO says AI is not the enemy](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/bc/b3/ac/Music-platform-CEO-says-AI-is-not-t-046991.jpg)
Music platform CEO says AI is not the enemy
Musicians around the world have described artificial intelligence as a threat to creativity, but the CEO of one popular platform told AFP he thinks critics are looking at it all wrong.
BandLab, a mostly free online music workstation and distribution platform based in Singapore, has more than 100 million registered users.
It recently incorporated an AI music creation tool dubbed SongStarter, which generates song ideas from genre, key, tempo and lyric prompts.
For BandLab founder and CEO Meng Ru Kwok, whose company bought music magazine NME in 2019, AI is no substitute for a real musician.
"It's not called SongFinisher. It's called SongStarter. It's not trying to replace people's creativity... (with) a vending machine approach of a magic button where you press and a song comes out," Meng said in an interview with AFP.
"You still need to use your human creativity to build on that, to turn it into something."
Proponents of easy-to-use apps like BandLab say they have revolutionised the music industry by allowing artists to be their own producers, and by bringing cheap bedroom recordings into the charts.
But many musicians are concerned that AI will be used to replicate voices and sounds, and also that it will become even harder for professional artists to sustain themselves in a brutally competitive industry.
Meng, a Radiohead fan from a billionaire family, believes there is no going back from the shift towards more self-production.
One of BandLab's biggest successes came via American lo-fi indie artist David Burke, better known as "d4vd".
Relying totally on the app to record and master the track in his sister's closet, d4vd's song "Romantic Homicide" recently surpassed one billion Spotify streams.
"He did that on his phone with just headphones. It's ultimately his talent. We're more like someone's guitar, you know? We're an instrument," Meng said.
- 'Doomsday scenarios' -
"The definition of music creators will change. In the same way previously not everyone thought of themselves as a videographer or a photographer. Today, with a mobile phone, everybody is a hyper-casual photographer," he added.
Among the newer AI functions being rolled out is Voice Cleaner, designed to enhance the quality of vocal recordings.
Meng wants AI critics to look at the tech not as an end to human creativity but as a tool that enhances it.
"There are a lot of doomsday scenarios for every sort of innovation in technology, right? So, if you look back historically, what's happening with AI is, in my opinion, a technological evolution and it's not as simple as a simple evolution," he says.
The Cambridge mathematics degree holder uses the invention of the phonograph -- later called the gramophone -- as an example of how new technology once instilled fear when musicians thought it would be the end of live performances.
- What would Radiohead say? –
Meng learnt to play the guitar as a teenager and was a fan of alternative bands like Radiohead and The Strokes.
Later on, he became obsessed with the classics, from singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell to blues icon BB King.
Asked how he would pitch BandLab to Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Meng says he would try to get the band on board with the app's social features.
The 35-year-old's father is a palm oil tycoon, and his great-uncle, Robert Kuok, is Malaysia's richest man.
Meng also owns Swee Lee, one of Asia's top musical instrument retailers.
"My mom will always joke that my son sells guitars," he says.
A.S.Diogo--PC