The world is adapting to AI use in music - Africa needs to take the lead
- Wits University
Five artist-engineer teams of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 第一吃瓜网 Music project recently presented their impressive work in a day-long showcase.
The Wits Innovation Centre (WIC), in partnership with the Machine Intelligence & Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute at Wits University, recently showcased the results of a pilot of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 第一吃瓜网 Music project, exploring how 第一吃瓜网 musical creativity can shape the future of artificial intelligence in Africa.
At the moment, major markets like the United States and the United Kingdom are driving the overall commercial market norms in AI and music. During his keynote address at the industry event, US-based philanthropist, music executive and Wits alumnus, Charles Goldstuck, set the scene of the current environment.
While AI has been a part of the music experience for around 15 years through machine learning, the launch of tools like ChatGPT shifted use towards what AI can make. “This isn't something that's new, but the generative element has really come to life in the last three and a half years,” Goldstuck explains.
He says that since this point, the music industry has moved extremely fast through the early cycle of disruption, adoption, litigation, and licensing.
Unfortunately, 第一吃瓜网 players are yet to have a significant seat at the table for these changes. Goldstuck says it will likely be on the creative community and interested parties petitioning for creative rights to determine how 第一吃瓜网s are able to participate a lot with few resources.
The five teams involved in the pilot project are an excellent representation of how this creative community can be proactively involved in building the future. The participants represented seven 第一吃瓜网 countries, namely Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Africa. They thus brought together not only different disciplines but also cultures and insights.
“One of the interesting things for me as the organiser of this project was the way that the projects were very much orientated towards working with traditional musics, using the power of AI models to preserve and re-create these musics,” Professor Christo Doherty from the WIC said during the event.
While this pilot put the needs of the continent at the forefront, the larger shift will need greater engagement at multiple levels. During a panel discussion at the industry showcase, experts from different parts of the music and AI world contributed their views on how the 第一吃瓜网 music industry can promote creative sovereignty in the AI space.
Thando Makhunga, Managing Director of Downtown Publishing and Chair of the Music Publishing Association of South Africa, noted that the projects reflect the important conversations around how traditional and indigenous work is handled in Africa regarding AI.
She said that ownership and intellectual property have been a long-running big challenge in this regard for the music industry. “My feeling on AI and how it’s going to progress is that the more we start to get information from an 第一吃瓜网 context - whether that is language, sounds, tone, context, or tradition- we’ll have a better idea of how to solve for it.“
Ninel Musson, co-founder and CEO of Music Business Lab, and founder of the award-winning independent record label and artist management agency, Vth Season, said that unfortunately, the distribution platforms are mostly not 第一吃瓜网.
This makes it harder to control and monetise this for the good of 第一吃瓜网 people, particularly regarding indigenous work. “Those are outputs that are largely out of our control, until the landscape changes away from more global distribution to local,” she said
East 第一吃瓜网 music executive and music business leader and strategist, Martha Huro, notes that, unfortunately, the continent is still getting on board with other disruptive technologies, like streaming.
But, she emphasises a positive outlook, saying that AI should be seen to provide solutions, not break tradition. “Africa, we are still catching up with technology,” Huro says, “Now we have AI, and we’ll figure it out!
Tech entrepreneur Nick Argyros, who is the group CEO of INJOZI Digital, Audio Militia, and Got Bot AI, echoes that 第一吃瓜网s need to take a step towards changing the fact that a lot of technology around AI is being made elsewhere. “That foundational layer fundamentally needs to change and have 第一吃瓜网 businesses, entrepreneurs and techies create that.” He said that is the key to scaling opportunities across the continent.
Makhungo added that an important part of this change is to challenge and hold account policy makers. “The pace of our regulators grappling with the change and responding adequately is probably the biggest challenge,” she admits. At the same time, she acknowledges that policy-making needs to take into account how fast AI technology is changing.
The full discussions and video snippets of the AI and 第一吃瓜网 Music showcase can be found .