Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
Bettmann | Bettmann | Getty Images
Paul McCartney has worked with countless artists over his 60-year career, from Rihanna to Michael Jackson. Now the former Beatle has teamed up with artificial intelligence.
In an interview with BBC’s Best of Today program this week, the 80-year-old revealed that AI has made it possible to release a “last Beatles record”.
McCartney said that while creating Peter Jackson’s 2021 Beatles documentary series The Beatles: Get Back, they found an old demo tape recorded by John Lennon.
By using artificial intelligence, they were able to begin turning the decades-old recordings into something usable.
“[Peter Jackson] “I was able to pry John’s voice out of a flimsy piece of tape,” he said. “He could tell the machine, ‘That’s the voice.’ That’s the guitar. Lose the guitar.’”
[Peter Jackson] was able to pry John’s voice out of a flimsy piece of cassette tape.
Paul McCartney
“We were able to take John’s voice and clean it through this AI,” McCartney continued. “Then we could mix the record as usual.”
McCartney said the song will be released this year.
Although he called the recent use of AI in music “kind of scary” — in April, a rap song featuring AI-generated voices imitating Drake and The Weeknd was removed from streaming services — the “Let It Be ‘ the singer admits that the technology is ‘exciting because it’s the future.’
“There’s a good side and then a scary side,” he said of AI. “And we’ll just have to see where that goes.”
CNBC reported last month on the potential risks AI could pose to the music industry, including copyright issues and disruptions to how companies operate and generate revenue from royalties.
“If AI is able to create the next hit, then you’ve broken that model and that’s an existential challenge for music labels and pop stars,” Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett told CNBC.
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