Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys has suggested artificial intelligence (AI) could be a useful tool in a songwriter’s kit amid fears over the impact of the technology on the music industry.
In an interview with Radio Times, Tennant, who founded the synthpop duo more than 40 years ago, suggested AI could be used to help musicians overcome writers’ block and finish songs.
His comments come as the music industry is beginning to mobilise against the perceived threat of fake songs. In October, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) warned that AI companies were violating copyrights en masse by using music to train their machines.
A song featuring AI-generated vocals purporting to be Drake and the Weeknd was pulled from streaming services by Universal Music Group (UMG) in April after going viral. The label condemned the song, called Heart on My Sleeve, for “infringing content created with generative AI”.
But Tennant strikes a more optimistic tone with his interview in Radio Times. He recounts being amazed by the 15-year-old daughter of the act’s manager asking a bot to come up with a song in the style of Pet Shop Boys.
“There’s a song that we wrote a chorus for in 2003 and we never finished because I couldn’t think of anything for the verses,” he said. “But now with AI you could give it the bits you’ve written, press the button and have it fill in the blanks. You might then rewrite it, but it could nonetheless be a tool.”
The duo said they had been impressed by Abba Voyage, the “virtual residency” show in which the Swedish popstars are represented by avatars of their younger selves.
In March, the Entertainment Industry Coalition published a series of seven core principles regarding the relationship between artificial intelligence and music, detailing the need for AI to “empower human expression” while also asserting the importance of representing “creators’ interests … in policymaking”.
Tennant, 68, and his long-term bandmate Chris Lowe, 63, headlined the Other Stage at the Glastonbury festival last year, drawing one of the event’s biggest crowds.
