Liza Minnelli is true showbiz royalty. The daughter of legendary singer and actress Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, she has won just about every major award the industry can bestow. So when she recently added her vocals to music generated by AI, the move made news. This is her first new music in more than a decade, according to The Guardian. The song, "Kids, Wait Til You Hear This," is a dance track that shares the same title as Minnelli's forthcoming memoir.
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Another legend, Art Garfunkel, has also seemingly embraced the new trend. Per the outlet, he did a track titled Authorship featuring a spoken portion of a memoir he wrote that is accompanied by AI-created music.
AI Is Shaking Up the Music Industry
As you surely are aware, AI is highly controversial in the music business. Many feel that it is too synthetic and lacks the genuineness of songs crafted by humans. There is also the concern that emerging technology, namely AI, could gradually displace people from their creative roles. Keeping it real is always a top priority for singers and songwriters. And there is the potential pitfall of singers' voices being imitated without appropriate compensation or permission.
Having said all that, is there a place for AI in music? Liza Minnelli apparently believes that there is.
Minnelli Explained Her Stance Regarding AI
The singer and actress, 79, weighed in on
Facebook to clarify her view of AI in music. She evidently feels that it's okay - to a degree, and with reasonable boundaries and limitations in place. It seems like Minnelli had fun experimenting with the concept of using AI. To her, exploring its usage might be an exciting new artistic frontier.Her post begins exuberantly with "Hi Kids, I'm happy as a clam, laughing like hell and losing my mind!" She goes on to write that ElevenLabs, the organization that created the song, is "a Six Billion Dollar techno behemoth does amazing things. Matthew McConaughey was an early investor. Smart. What I will not allow this great company to do? Create, clone or copy my voice! On this dance track, 'Kids Wait Till You Hear This' which is a tease for my book, we used AI arrangements. Not AI vocals...."
Minnelli continued, "The shout outs [on the track] are all mine! Go listen, enjoy, and shake your pretty buns to the music...."
She Defends the Artist's Creative Supremacy
In a press release via The Guardian, she also noted in part, "What interested me here was the idea of using my voice and new tools in service of expression, not instead of it. This project respects the artist's voice, the artist's choices, and the artist's ownership."
Liza Minnelli's articulate and thoughtful opinions will surely be an important addition to the ongoing AI debate in the music industry.
