The gifts that can be derived from listening are significant--particularly when it comes to music and sound. And in that spirit, SHOOT sought out music and audio professionals to gain insights into their roles, how they’ve evolved, lessons learned from challenging projects, and observations relative to new platforms, innovations and technologies, including the impact, good and bad, of artificial intelligence.

On the latter score, Colleen Dahlstrom, sr. music producer, integrated production at McCann New York, shared, “As a tool for assisting the creative process, I see huge potential in AI. We hear from everyone these days about how increasingly heavy our workloads have become and leaning into AI seems like a partial solution. So often we place fear in the unknown instead of grasping the opportunity to expand music and sound as we know it. However, the unknowns of AI and the likelihood of exploitation of artists’ voices and likeness for profit is terrifying. Embracing AI requires understanding of existing copyright and a strong respect for the talent who created the music which serves as a foundation for AI. We would be wise to carefully approach AI as a tool to push the envelope, or as a jumping off point, but by no means should it be seen as a replacement for human made art from emotion.”

Brian Yessian, partner/chief creative officer, Yessian Music, related, “There is a wave of music focused AI tools coming our way now. As an industry, we all need to do our part and adhere to a code of ethics and copyright laws while using these platforms. Unfortunately, as we all know, there will be many out there that don’t, which will spark legal responses for years to come. It will be important to work with responsible platforms that follow the guidelines of copyright law and ethically utilize AI tools in our processes. Our industry is one of constant change and for us to evolve as a company we cannot ignore the impact of AI and how it effects authentic artistry.”

Brian Jones, president/composer, BANG Music + Audio Post, observed, “The ‘music industry’ sometimes attacks new technology, especially if it disrupts the status quo — whether it’s transitioning from tape to computer-based recording, drum machines, CDs, MP3s, Auto-Tune, streaming, etc. — and AI is certainly no different. Like any new thing there are good uses and bad uses. To the good, AI is helping clean up bad recordings & mixes, create stems from full mixes, and help jumpstart ideation when writing. It can also literally change one voice into another, and that seems to be where this one feels different. What voices are being used to train that AI and why? If the intent by the AI and its user is to plagiarize and otherwise steal intellectual property and performances from existing writers and artists, then we’ll need rules/laws in place to protect against that “predatory use.” I do tend to be a futurist when it comes to adopting new technologies so my bet is we’ll find a way collectively to get the best from AI without destroying the industry (or the world?). Humans still love to hear music made by other humans and I’m guessing that will never change.”

As for how roles are evolving in the music and sound landscape, Julia Millison, sr. music producer, BBDO New York, shared, “As the music industry and advertising world has shifted, so has the role of a music supervisor or producer. We now need to be experts on music, on technology, and on social media trends. We have to be constantly learning, relearning, and looking at the ways other people innovate. We often have to rethink the way we do the same job to adapt to new mediums, expectations, and timelines. I think it’s an exciting opportunity to experiment with music in ways we may not have thought of before, but we need to make sure to engage with tech and trends thoughtfully.”

Regarding new opportunities, Wendell Hanes, CEO, Volition Sound, said, “VR, AR, and streaming environments are definitely another space for sound designers and music makers to engage and color the platform. The opportunities for music makers are vast and consumers are taking in content like never before from all different sources. The opportunities for advertisers to follow into these spaces should be vast and acceptable as long as the creative stays “A” Plus and based on the latest work I’ve seen as a judge and curator these past few weeks, the industry creative is as innovative and thrilling as ever.”

Q&A
SHOOT surveyed a cross-section of music professionals from the advertising agency, music and sound house, and audio post sectors to gain their assessments of the creative, business and technological sides of the business. The following six questions were posed: 

1. On April 1, more than 200 music notables (including Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, 3 Balvin and Jon Bon Jovi) of the Artists Rights Alliance issued an open letter warning against the “predatory use of AI” in the music industry. The letter cites AI’s capability to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights and “destroy the music ecosystem.” The letter further calls on tech companies, AI developers and digital music services to pledge that they won’t develop or use AI-powered technology the undermines songwriters and artists or prevents them from earning compensation for their art. What are your views and/or concerns relative to artificial intelligence and its impact on music and sound?
2. How do new technologies, markets and platforms figure in your creative/business plans. For example, with NFTs gaining momentum, do you foresee related music and sound work resulting? Same for VR/AR? Will increased content spurred on by the emergence of additional streaming platforms open up music and sound opportunities for you? Any growth prospects in the advertising and/or entertainment industry?
3. How has your role--or that of your business or company--evolved in recent years? What do you like most about that evolution? What do you like least?
4. What was the biggest creative challenge posed to you by a recent project? Tell us about that project, why the challenge was particularly noteworthy or gratifying to overcome, or what valuable lesson you learned from it.
5. What recent work are you most proud of and why? Or what recent work (advertising or entertainment)--your own or that of others--has struck a responsive chord with you?
6. A growing number of superstar artists and songwriters have been selling their music rights/catalogs in megabuck deals. What will be the ripple effect of this on music creatively and from a business standpoint relative to the advertising, film, TV and streaming platform markets?

What follows is the feedback we received... click on the NAME or HEADSHOT below (shown in alphabetical order by last name).