Renowned globally as pioneers of popular music, The Beatles’ influence continues to resonate across generations. Sixty years after Beatlemania first swept the world, innovative technology is giving fans a chance to experience a “new” release from the legendary quartet, despite the sad loss of two of its members.
Announced last week, the unreleased track titled “Now And Then” is scheduled for release on November 2, taking its place beside “Love Me Do” — The Beatles’ debut single from 1962 — to form a unique single. This posthumous release was made possible by artificial intelligence (AI), which played a crucial role in reconstructing the song from a collection of unreleased demos penned by the late John Lennon. These are the same demos from which his former bandmates crafted “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” in the mid-1990s.
The realm of music production is being revolutionized by AI, not only in creating new content but also in reviving the voices of late artists. Last week’s announcement by Paul McCartney on using AI to produce this final Beatles song raises questions about the ethics behind such technological applications. AI has been utilized to create ‘new’ songs by Amy Winehouse and to blend vocals of deceased musicians, such as Freddie Mercury singing George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’, and Michael Jackson’s rendition of ‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicii. These innovations go beyond fancifully imagining a world where musical legends continue to perform and instead raise poignant discussions about tampering with the legacies of these late artists.
Whether people agree or not with this kind of application for AI, when the new song is released next month there will be plenty of people interested in listening to it.
Featured image: CBS News
