Over the summer, Universal Music Group entered into a strategic partnership with AI technology company SoundLabs, focused on “ethically” trained tools for music creators.
The plan was for SoundLab, founded by Grammy-nominated producer, composer, software developer and electronic artist BT, to equip UMG’s artists and producers with AI technology via its AI voice plug-in. MicDrop.”
The first AI-based version from this partnership has been announced: a Spanish version of That of Brenda Lee iconic holiday hit, Rockin’ around the Christmas tree, first recorded 66 years ago.
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree topped the US Hot 100 for three weeks last year – more than 50 years after it was first recorded and released (in 1958) by the then 13-year-old star.
The new version, Good night and Christmas, was produced by Latin Grammy winner Auero Baqueiro. It uses the original music and background vocals while replacing Lee’s original lead vocals with a newly translated Spanish-language vocal.
The track was released today (October 25) via MCA Nashville and UMe, the global catalog division of UMG.
The new voice for Good Night and Christmas was created using SoundLabs AI’s MicDrop audio plugin, which allows a user to transform their voice into another voice or instrument.
In partnership with UMG, SoundLabs creates official “ultra-high fidelity” vocal models for artists using their own vocal data for training “while giving them full artistic approval and control over the output.”
UMG says the release marks the first time a music company has used “ethically trained AI” to release a new language version of a classic song, which it says was “responsibly created with participation and authorization of the artist.
Universal has been a leading player in the AI space over the past couple of years. In October last year, UMG partnered with BandLab Technologies for what it described as “a large-scale, industry-first strategic relationship focused on artificial intelligence.” And in August last year, YouTube and UMG formed a partnership to jointly develop AI tools.
This month, Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, was named to Business Insider’s 2024 AI Power List.
“I’m so blown away by this new Spanish version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,’ which was created with the help of AI. »
Brenda Lee
“I’m so blown away by this new Spanish version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,’ which was created with the help of AI,” said Brenda Lee.
“Throughout my career, I have performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I have never recorded ‘Rockin’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do. Releasing this now is pretty amazing and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.
“We are also very excited about the possibilities of this emerging technology and look forward to leveraging its capabilities to introduce new materials created and approved by our artists. »
Bruce Resnikoff, UMe
Bruce Resnikoff, UMe President and CEO, added, “We are thrilled to work with Brenda Lee to make ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ the first classic song responsibly translated into another language through power of AI.
“We are also very excited about the possibilities of this emerging technology and look forward to leveraging its capabilities to introduce new materials created and approved by our artists. »
“We are all very excited about this new Spanish version created with the help of the AI of this legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself. »
Cindy Mabe, UMG Nashville
Cindy Mabe, President and CEO of UMG Nashville, said, “As soon as you hear Brenda Lee’s iconic voice on Rockin’ around the Christmas tree you know it’s the official start of Christmas.
“The global success touched people all over the world and kept the 13-year-old’s Christmas spirit captured in a time capsule. We are all very excited about this new Spanish version created with the AI help of this legendary voice and approved by Brenda Lee herself to help celebrate this enduring and timeless classic.
“This project was an extremely exciting showcase for MicDrop, our real-time voice-to-voice plugin. »
BT, SoundLabs
SoundLabs founder BT said: “This project was an extremely exciting showcase for MicDrop, our real-time voice-to-voice plugin.
“Training a model based on 13-year-old Brenda Lee using original masters was both a rewarding challenge and a creative breakthrough. We’re excited to see how this technology breathes new life into a beloved Christmas classic, blending innovation and tradition in a truly human way.
UMG said Friday it supports bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress to protect individual voices and images from unauthorized computer-generated recreations using generative AI and other technologies, such as deepfakes and voice/image clones.
The bill, known as the “NO FAKES Act” (S. 4875 in the Senate and HR 9551 in the U.S. House of Representatives), has the support of the entire creative community.
Recently, Brenda Lee joined hundreds of artists, songwriters and other creators supporting the legislation in an open letter published by the Human Artistry Campaign, the global organization supporting responsible AI.
