{"id":34903,"date":"2023-06-13T21:40:09","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T21:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/"},"modified":"2023-06-13T21:40:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T21:40:10","slug":"itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/","title":{"rendered":"Itoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/<\/a><\/br>
\nItoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain<\/br>
\n2023-06-13 21:40:09<\/br><\/p>\n

\n

AI-generated music is fast becoming a reality. Thanks to tools like Meta\u2019s MusicGen<\/a>, it\u2019s now possible to create halfway decent songs in a range of styles without ever having to play an instrument, read sheet music or learn to use a DAW<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But while the creative potential of generative AI music tools is nothing less than extraordinary, the tools also threaten to upend the music industry\u2019s copyright status quo. That\u2019s because, in order to \u201clearn\u201d to create new songs, the tools must be \u201ctrained\u201d on vast databases of existing songs \u2014 not always with the artists\u2019 blessings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pitting musicians against labels. Universal Music Group has labeled all AI-generated music using existing artists\u2019 voices as \u201cfraud.\u201d On the other hand, art-pop musician Grimes vowed to allow her voice to be used in AI music without penalty.<\/p>\n

The rules around AI-generated music are murky at present. Several lawsuits<\/a> making their way through the courts will likely have a bearing on music-generating AI, including one pertaining to the rights of artists whose work is used to train AI systems without their knowledge or consent. But it\u2019ll be months before the first decisions are made public and months more, potentially, if the cases are appealed.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, some startups, attempting to get ahead of regulators, are proposing standards of their own around generative music IP. One is Itoka<\/a>, which was recently accepted into the Allen Institute for AI\u2019s startup incubation program.<\/p>\n

Itoka, co-founded by Malcolm Yang and Yihao Chen, seeks to \u201ctokenize\u201d music content, specifically AI-generated content, on the blockchain so that creators can independently license that content and receive compensation every time it\u2019s used. Itoka plans to temporarily hold the ownership of songs and give creators full licenses for their commercial use, while at the same time preventing plagiarization and \u201cunlawful monetization\u201d on its platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cItoka is a decentralized music platform we developed to enable data self-sovereignty, the permanence of music storage, digital rights management, global music accessibility and creator governance,\u201d Yang and Chen told TechCrunch in an email interview. \u201cWe establish a new paradigm for copyright protection that doesn\u2019t rely on the physical copyright office to enforce the legal status but rather on code-operated smart contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Itoka\"<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Itoka<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If the idea of tying licensing to the blockchain \u2014 a shared, immutable ledger to track assets \u2014 sounds familiar, that\u2019s because Itoka\u2019s not the first startup to attempt to do so.<\/p>\n

Just a few months ago, web3 project Dequency launched a decentralized portal for music rights holders and creators that allows for ostensibly easier licensing and payments for content. Around the same time, music producer Justin Blau, also known as 3LAU, launched a song licensing service called Royal, which collaborated with the popular rapper Nas to allow fans to acquire nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that gave them ownership rights over some of the artist\u2019s songs.<\/p>\n

But alongside its blockchain-based licensing scheme, Itoka offers music creation tools powered by music-generating AI models. And it plans to partner with musicians who contribute their work for AI training purposes on a compensation plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, everyone will have the power to produce music, and there will be a massive amount of quality music produced every day for various purposes,\u201d Yang and Chen said. \u201cAs music production becomes democratized, the establishment of the current music industry and its monopoly will be significantly undermined. This will urge people to rethink creativity and artistry in content creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Itoka\u2019s music generation tools, at least as they exist today, are simpler than those lofty words might suggest.<\/p>\n

After creating an account, users can choose from one of several genres and sentiments \u2014 including \u201cEDM,\u201d \u201cHip Hop,\u201d \u201cLofi\u201d and \u201cEmotional\u201d \u2014 to have Itoka\u2019s engine generate a five-track song automatically, in the background. After choosing album art for the new song, Itoka throws users into a block-based composing interface, where they can edit aspects such as the song\u2019s tempo, bass and chords.<\/p>\n

\"Itoka\"<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Itoka<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The AI\u2019s nowhere near as robust or capable as text-to-music systems like the aforementioned MusicGen. But Itoka places an emphasis on ease of use over customizability.<\/p>\n

Once a song\u2019s been created, it can be listed on the Itoka marketplace for licensing. Yang and Chen claim that there have been over 1,900 songs generated via the platform to date and that those songs have been listened to for over 3 million minutes collectively.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s off to a respectable start. But my question is, who\u2019s going to license a library of AI-generated songs \u2014 particularly songs that sound relatively generic compared to the average royalty-free music library?<\/p>\n

Yang and Chen say that they\u2019re going after game developers as one of their top customer segments \u2014 developers who\u2019d normally license from one of the larger content libraries. To this end, Itoka has a partnership with Canva and \u201cmultiple game studios\u201d \u2014 Yang and Chen wouldn\u2019t say which \u2014 for content licensing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, we will be more than happy to move on to other customer sectors and provide the most-fitting features and solutions,\u201d Yang and Chen said. \u201cThere are some AI-friendly musicians who\u2019d like to help us push the boundaries of technology and music creativity, and we sincerely hope that we can achieve greatness with them together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time will tell.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n

Science, Tech, Technology<\/br>
\n<\/br>
\nSource:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/ Itoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain 2023-06-13 21:40:09 AI-generated music is fast becoming a reality. Thanks to tools like Meta\u2019s MusicGen, it\u2019s now possible to create halfway decent songs in a range of styles without ever having to play an instrument, read sheet music or learn to use a DAW. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,17,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-tech","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nItoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain - Science and Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Itoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain - Science and Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Source:https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/06\/13\/itoka-wants-to-license-ai-generated-music-via-the-blockchain\/ Itoka wants to license AI-generated music via the blockchain 2023-06-13 21:40:09 AI-generated music is fast becoming a reality. 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