Latest news with #Timbaland
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Timbaland's New Artist Is Young, Photogenic — and Not Human
Legendary producer Timbaland has taken his fervent embrace of AI music production to a new level, launching a new AI entertainment company, Stage Zero — and an AI-generated 'artist,' TaTa, who will be dropping a debut single soon. Timbaland, who co-founded the company with his current creative partner, Zayd Portillo, and film producer Rocky Mudaliar, tells Rolling Stone he's had the idea for the venture since he began making music with the generative AI platform Suno last year. 'I saw the path,' he says, 'but I had to wait till everything caught up.' TaTa is intended to be the first of many personas launched by the company, and the co-founders have dreams of the characters becoming virtual influencers and even starring in movies and TV shows. 'Ultimately what Tim's here to do is to pioneer a new genre of music — A-pop, artificial pop,' says Mudaliar, who originally met with Timbaland to discuss a documentary on his career. TaTa will maintain a social media presence, with music videos generated by various AI video tools. More from Rolling Stone Timbaland's AI Reinvention: 'God Presented This Tool to Me' AI Music Is More Realistic Than Ever: Meet Suno's New Model Timbaland Embraces AI Music Production, Announces Partnership with Start-Up Suno TaTa and other potential artists from the company will have their music created via a collaborative process between human creators and the AI music platform Suno. (Timbaland is a creative adviser to that company, but Stage Zero is entirely independent of Suno.) Timbaland and Portillo have developed a workflow where they upload Timbaland demos created by conventional means to the platform, have Suno extrapolate upon them, and then insert human-written lyrics. TaTa's voice first appeared a Suno generation that caught Timbaland's ear: 'It came to a point where I'm like, 'Yo, this voice, it's amazing,'' the producer says. He's able to capture and reuse that specific voice via the platform's Personas feature, introduced last October. 'We have these stacks of music that needed to be finished,' Portillo says. 'And then it just so happened that the TaTa ones were just getting finished faster. There was just something about those songs that were just like. 'Man, this just flows.'' Stage Zero arrives as the music industry and artists continue to wage legal and cultural war against AI music tools. Major labels have filed massive lawsuits against Suno and competitor Udio over their use of copyrighted material in training data, although recent reports suggest settlement talks are underway. Artists including Billie Eilish and Stevie Wonder have signed open letters denouncing AI as a threat to human creativity. Timbaland and Portillo have suggested the backlash will die down, and Mudaliar agrees. 'It's gonna be a bit of a battle,' he says, 'but it's not going anywhere…. We were thinking about the example of the influencer itself and how ridiculous that might've sounded 10 years ago, where we're like, 'Nah, there's no way YouTubers can be bigger than actors.' And now they're the biggest stars in the world.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The Citizen
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
The future of music as AI makes its presence felt
Spotify hosted the Soundboard event, which featured discussions on the role of AI in the music industry. Babusi Nyoni speaking about the future of music, with AI infiltrating the artform Picture: Supplied The influence of artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly apparent in industries such as writing and graphic design. Lowering the barriers to entry and offering people artistic and writing skills to produce high-quality work in these fields. The technology has made its way into music, with renowned US artist and producer Timbaland endorsing the tech tool by launching his own AI music label and introducing an AI artist. Last week, music streaming platform Spotify hosted the Soundboard event, which featured discussions on the role of AI in music. Zimbabwean technologist Babusi Nyoni led the conversation with a keynote address, during which he spoke about the evolution of AI in music. ALSO READ: SA Gen Z's love for new-age Maskandi and Americans' craze over Amazayoni music AI in music Babusi said AI has shortened the process of making music, in terms of mastering and mixing a song. 'I think there are opportunities outside of this AI-level conversation, to use AI in a way to propel themselves forward,' he said. However, he acknowledged the criticism that Timbaland and AI have faced in the past few weeks since the producer launched his label. Babusi mentioned that there was a period when the US producer was soliciting submissions from upcoming artists who were desperate for a big break. 'People are of the opinion that a lot of the music submissions from indie artists might have gone into feeding Suno AI's model and an unfortunate part of AI as a technology is that all the data that is used has to come from somewhere.' He said a lot of the companies driving the AI revolution primarily have their headquarters in Silicon Valley. 'Their metrics for success kind of rely on some kind of, excuse my French, fu****g over of someone else. So, what that means then is, lots of music from smaller artists is taken and used to trend because they don't have the kind of legal representation they need.' True to Babusi's words, Timbaland recently apologised for stealing a producer's beats. ALSO READ: 'All of the music I've ever made belongs to me': Taylor Swift wins long battle to own masters AI influencer marketing Babusi notes that artists like Timbaland are utilising the AI influencer marketing model to engage with their audiences. 'I think that's part of what Timbaland is doing, he's created an AI influencer to push the music that he's making through Suno AI. And I think that's the missing piece, because the music generated on the platform is a bit touch-and-go, but what people need in terms of how we connect with music is also the person behind the music,' said the tech entrepreneur. Babusi even mentioned how AI has also infiltrated the dating scene, with several people having AI partners. 'There's this idea that men around the world are so lonely and women are so inaccessible to them and a lot are paying for AI girlfriends,' Babusi said to bursts of laughter in the room. He says the sacredness of the human connection is being eroded by how much time people spend online. 'It's so easy for people to speak to an AI that they know is literally AI, but as a life partner… and because you have that, that means there is a subset of audience that is able to look at an AI influencer and just give that entity their full attention.' He foresees upcoming artists no longer needing to be the faces of music, with AI influencers flooding the market. 'I think that's very likely in the next five years. But in terms of music production right now, I see AI being used more in very practical points in the music production process, not actually as the entity making the song end to end,' he said. ALSO READ: 'It's not just music, it's a story': Showmax celebrates Kabza De Small's Amapiano brilliance Looking ahead He said things are not all doom and gloom because AI's role in music is still unfolding. 'It's a really tough conversation, but I think we have more agency than we think we do because all of this is happening right now,' he said. 'We haven't reached that point yet, it's up to us putting in place some kind of policies or ways in which we decide to, as publishers [and] streaming platforms, in how we treat AI-generated music.' NOW READ: Jazz legend Feya Faku dies while on tour in Switzerland
Calgary Herald
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
'Doesn't seem right': Skateboarders feel blindsided by temporary closure of city's biggest skatepark
Article content Members of Calgary's skateboard community say they're frustrated by the temporary closure of a main section of Canada's largest outdoor skatepark, in order to prepare for an upcoming music festival. Article content Local skaters expressed outrage in an online message board Friday, after the yellow zone of the Cowboys Park skatepark was barricaded for crews to set up for next month's Cowboys Music Festival. Article content The yellow zone is the largest section of the 75,000-square-foot skatepark. Article content Article content The Cowboys Music Festival, which takes place during the Calgary Stampede, will be held July 3 to 13 at the park just west of the downtown core. The 11-day festival will feature Macklemore, T-Pain, Kim Petras, Timbaland, and other headline acts, drawing an estimated attendance of 100,000. Article content A petition urging festival organizers to reconsider their use of the space and 'free' the skatepark — which many local users still refer to as 'Millz' — had garnered more than 1,800 e-signatures as of Saturday morning. Article content 'People are upset, understandably,' said skateboarder Evan Podilek, an employee of Ninetimes Skate Shop on 12th Street S.W., just a few kilometres from Cowboys Park. Article content 'We have a limited stretch of weather to skate outside.' Article content Another employee of the shop, Jasper Westbury argued skateboarders weren't consulted ahead of time, only hearing about the closure 'through the grapevine.' Article content Article content 'I think our big thing is, Stampede gets what Stampede wants,' he said. Article content 'It would have been sick if the city and Cowboys thought about everybody that is a stakeholder.' Article content At the skatepark on Friday afternoon, a small number of skateboarders and BMX riders were limited to using either the blue zone, which is designed for beginners, or the more advanced red zone, which features bowls and ramps catering to users of a high skill level. Article content Kincaid Chan said he skates at the park a few times a week and that he signed the e-petition. Article content 'It doesn't seem right,' he said of the closure. 'From what I've read … apparently they weren't supposed to touch the skatepark. That seems to have been contravened.'
The South African
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The South African
Timbaland sparks debate as he signs an AI artist to his label
Grammy-award-winning American producer Timbaland has caused a stir with his decision to sign an AI artist to his record label. The artist is called TaTa, and this move has been met with vast opposition. The growing rise of AI will see most vocations and industries either succumb to this development or learn to use it somehow. Timbaland describes TaTa as 'a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. He stressed that TaTa is more than just an avatar or animated character. He's even pioneering a genre around his new artist, something he calls A-pop, along with a new company to manage his artificially created exploits. He probably will not refrain from collaborating with human beings. He has quite a roster of talents that he has helped shape. People like Missy Elliot, Aaliyah, Justin Timberlake, and Keri Hilson. He unearthed a lot of those talents himself. The idea with the AI artist TaTa will be to blend human creativity with digital advancements. Timbaland has aligned himself with an AI music company called Suno, an entity that has endured quite a bit of turmoil as a result of copyright infringement and concerns. The quirky producer who helped pioneer R&B and hip hop from Virginia remains focused on this endeavour, bearing fruit. South Africans also owe him a lot as his famous stem, which he allowed to be used for free, is what built our nation's second anthem, Sister Bethina. The industry, however, is not enjoying this idea. Famed American producer and long-time collaborator of Jay-Z, Young Guru, has perhaps been the loudest voice against this. He submitted that AI compromises the authenticity and human-generated passion that good music relies on. 'Human expression can never be reduced to this,' Young Guru said in a social media post. Rapper Joyner Lucas also voiced his concerns, along with rapper Uncle Murda, and even British DJ Shy FX views this approach as flawed. The enterprising maestro is still determined to make this work. 'I'm not just producing tracks anymore. I'm producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch,' he explained in an interview. He is of the firm belief that AI will change the way music is made for the better. Streamlining the process and making things easier and quicker for producers and musicians. The music industry might be on the precipice of dramatic change. One need only observe the impact of social media has on the way music is released and engaged with. Timbaland is gearing up to relase TaTa's debut single in the months to come. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 11. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Black America Web
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Timbaland Announces Work With AI Artist, Sparking Criticism
Source: Prince Williams / Getty Veteran producer and artist Timbaland is now working with artificial intelligence, announcing that he'll also be working with a new AI artist as part of a venture with an AI company. But the news has caused some backlash. Timbaland has launched Stage Zero, an AI-focused entertainment company, which he claims has signed the first-ever AI artist named TaTa. 'I'm not just producing tracks anymore. I'm producing systems, stories, and stars from scratch,' Timbaland said in an interview with Billboard. '[TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. TaTa is a living, learning, autonomous music artist built with AI. TaTa is the start of something bigger. She's the first artist of a new generation. A-Pop is the next cultural evolution, and TaTa is its first icon.' He and Stage Zero released an image of 'TaTa,' depicted as a young, pink-haired woman. The venture is what the artist hopes will be a new genre of music called 'A-pop,' reflecting his work with Suno, a company that has reportedly used millions of copyrighted songs to train its AI engine. In an interview with Rolling Stone , he's reportedly created 50,000 songs from working with Suno, saying: 'The technology of today is perfect for what this is. What used to take me three months only takes me two days. In the beginning, it was like a toy. It was like going to a toy store. You gotta go through gluttony, because you can't believe that it's here.' The Grammy-winning producer's stance has earned him some backlash from fans and others in the music industry, notably from producer Young Guru who blasted him on his Instagram page. 'I'm going to say it again,' Young Guru wrote. 'I swear I love you bro but this ain't it. Do you not realize what is going on in the world. Your voice is powerful and way too important to do anything like this. I have students who worship you. They are going to say 'if Tim can do it, then it is ok for me to do it.' These are the times, right here, that history is defined .. Human expression can never be reduced to this!!! This is way bigger than music!!! I say this all in love.' SEE ALSO Timbaland Announces Work With AI Artist, Sparking Criticism was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
