Eclipse Nkasi, a producer, was concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) apps on his business as they began to be employed in Nigeria’s music industry. He was first skeptical of AI technology in music production, but he later identified both opportunities and risks.
In his Lagos-based studio, he planned to use AI to construct a full Afrobeats record. According to TRT Africa, Nkasi believes that AI does not need to replace existing music but may deliver a new experience, perhaps revolutionizing the industry in a positive way.
Previously, creating tracks for an album would have cost Nkasi a large amount of money and several months. The current method is writing music, hiring musicians, recording and honing performances in a traditional studio, and then releasing the song to audiences.
Nkasi and three friends used OpenAI’s ChatGPT application to create a nine-track album titled “Infinite Echoes” in just three days for $500, a substantially faster and less expensive approach than traditional music production methods.
The team used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to generate song lyrics and album names such as “God Whispers,” “Love Tempo,” and “Dream Chaser.” They then altered the created content to meet the album’s theme, focusing on a dedicated musician chasing their musical dream.
They also used another AI technology to construct the melodies. Nkasi recorded vocals and then used another app to change his voice into the generated singer for the CD. Mya Blue, the virtual vocalist featured in their project, interacts with her internet audience through computer-generated animation.
Nkasi acknowledges that artificial intelligence (AI) may render some areas of the music industry obsolete. However, he feels technology also provides chances for artists to efficiently innovate and improve their work.
Omotolani Alake, a music critic from Lagos, believes AI is already bringing about positive changes, notably in production values and technical parts of recording. However, residual uncertainties, such as copyright concerns, must be resolved because the business is still in its early stages of AI integration, according to him.
