The Beatles Releasing New AI Single

[Main Pop Girl]

Quote

 

A "last" Beatles song, featuring the voice of late member John Lennon, will be released this year thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, Paul McCartney has said.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4 , McCartney did not name the track but said the technology was used on "a demo that John had, that we worked on".

"So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record... we were able to take John's voice and get it pure through this AI (artificial intelligence), so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do," the singer-songwriter, 80, said.

"We just finished it up, it will be released this year."

The BBC said in an online article that the song was likely to be "Now and Then", which Lennon recorded as a demo in 1978, two years before his death in 1980.

McCartney said director Peter Jackson had used the technology for the documentary series "The Beatles: Get Back".

"He was able to extricate John's voice from a ropey little bit of cassette," McCartney said. "We had John's voice and a piano, he could separate them with AI."

 

This sounds like a relatively ethical use of AI and I'm always happy to hear unreleased Beatles songs. I'm looking forward to it!

[Cypher]

I'm trusting that they've discussed it with his estate, and so long as blessings are given, I think that's all that matters. The additional layers of care Paul details are definitely appreciated too! I'm glad he's being transparent about the whole process because I could see people rioting if they weren't given the full story of how much thought and care is going into this project. It's not just a cash grab, banking on name and legacy.

[Main Pop Girl]

13 minutes ago, Cypher said:

I'm trusting that they've discussed it with his estate, and so long as blessings are given, I think that's all that matters. The additional layers of care Paul details are definitely appreciated too! I'm glad he's being transparent about the whole process because I could see people rioting if they weren't given the full story of how much thought and care is going into this project. It's not just a cash grab, banking on name and legacy.

If they're really releasing Now and Then, I know they've been working on this song since literally 1979 and had a few false starts with the release over the past few decades. So I trust Paul to not put anything out until it's 100% right! I hope they release whatever raw demo they have as well so people can check that out if they'd rather.

[Dax Diameter]

I first heard about this song way back in 1994, at that point I know it was a source of frustration and that they wanted to polish the vocal in a way that the technology of that time would not allow. I’m therefore low key interested to hear the results.

I heard a radio soundbite with Paul McCartney the other day in which he said they had taught their bespoke software to remove a guitar part (and some static interference) and that they were happy with the results.

What he did not say, was whether they had used AI of John Lennon’s previously, professionally recorded vocals to augment his later preserved voice from the home recorded cassette tape.

Either way, this is the only other available demonstration (and it’s a visual one), of how Paul has authorized the use of tech (in the below example - deep fake), with eyebrow raising results:

 

And it appears they did use the real present day ‘him’ to get it just right:

 

[Main Pop Girl]

4 hours ago, Dax Diameter said:

I first heard about this song way back in 1994, at that point I know it was a source of frustration and that they wanted to polish the vocal in a way that the technology of that time would not allow. I’m therefore low key interested to hear the results.

I heard a radio soundbite with Paul McCartney the other day in which he said they had taught their bespoke software to remove a guitar part (and some static interference) and that they were happy with the results.

What he did not say, was whether they had used AI of John Lennon’s previously, professionally recorded vocals to augment his later preserved voice from the home recorded cassette tape.

Either way, this is the only other available demonstration (and it’s a visual one), of how Paul has authorized the use of tech (in the below example - deep fake), with eyebrow raising results:

 

And it appears they did use the real present day ‘him’ to get it just right:

 

That was definitely some questionable CGI. Fingers crossed he won't let anything that egregious slide this time around