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?
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.
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?
New technologies create opportunities for brand expansion, which in turn can broaden musical expression and needs. The increase of social content produced in the past three years I’ve been at McCann is astounding. This has opened the doors for new genres, newfound lyrical importance and use of varied music partners, allowing for unique perspectives and cultural inclusion. In my specific role, it is imperative to track new talent and artists because you never know what the next brief will be. There’s something to be said for keeping up with online trends and following artist channels. New platforms are an incredible opportunity for artists to not only further promote themselves and their music, but actually engage with fans. All that said, I still draw the most inspiration from live music where pervasive talent reveals itself in a real and raw format.
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?
I’ve been with McCann for three years, having come from the vendor side of original music and production libraries. Being agency side allows for a more complete picture of a project and the parties involved, sometimes even at pitch stage. My colleague Jamie Jou and I work across all clients at McCann NY and occasionally with some of the wider McCann Worldgroup and IPG agencies. The breadth of projects I’ve been privileged to work on and the amazing creative talent that have sparked these campaigns is nothing short of impressive. We are constantly enhancing our process for supplying music as early as possible in the creative stages of projects and working with account teams to ensure we obtain all the rights required by clients for a campaign at a cost that is also fair to the musicians involved. The downside about evolving so quickly is not always taking the time to reflect on past accomplishments and relish in all our hard work, but we try to take time throughout the year to reflect on these!
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.
It’s tough to be specific to a campaign, but there are recurring challenges that we must consider each time we attempt to insert brands into existing culture. For how quickly advertising campaigns can be produced, TikTok trends are faster and fleeting in a way that traditional advertising is not. There’s an incredibly small window to jump on a social media trend in a relevant way, though of course we have brands very eager to do so. When that trend involves music, there’s a huge educational process for agency and client about the rights to that music and the need for brands to obtain licenses for the use. In many cases, budgets do not allow for a famous track to be used, so our team works to find a song that can emotionally connect the audience in the same way. It’s thrilling to see it all come together, but the most satisfaction comes from the opportunities to explain the value of music and fair wages with those outside of the music industry.
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?
The project that’s stayed top of mind for me is our most recent holiday campaign for New York Lottery. Per director Joe Wright’s vision, we created an arrangement of “Barcarolle” from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman with partners Found Objects. It’s always incredibly gratifying to see a vision come to life from the early stages of a project and actually continue to bloom throughout the process. The spot featured a fully choreographed ballet, so laying the foundation of the arrangement was necessary ahead of shoot. Each iteration was more beautiful than the last and our team collectively understood and respected music’s integral role.
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?
From a licensor standpoint, it means more access to catalogs that previously had no chance for placements, especially in advertising. We work with brands across a huge variety of categories, some of which historically are prone to more rejections by artists and rightsholders solely based on category. Creatively, stronger and more plentiful licensing prospects are a win for our clients. It’s part of our responsibility on the agency side to make sure that we are still using that song, which is art, with due respect, to lift our own creative.
