South Korea-headquartered leisure big HYBE is leaning increasingly more into synthetic intelligence in music.
The corporate has simply unveiled a digital pop group known as SYNDI8, whose voices have been developed utilizing AI expertise.
The expertise used for the group’s voices was developed by AI audio firm Supertone, which is majority-owned by HYBE, after it struck a $32 million deal for the tech in 2023.
Based in Seoul in 2020, Supertone claims that its software program can create “hyper-realistic and expressive voices that [are not] distinguishable from actual people.”
This expertise aligns with feedback made by HYBE Chairman Bang Si-Hyuk in a 2023 interview with Billboard, by which he stated: “I’ve lengthy doubted that the entities that create and produce music will stay human.
“I don’t understand how lengthy human artists could be the one ones to fulfill human wants and human tastes. And that’s changing into a key issue for my operation and a method for HYBE.”
The brand new digital pop group, SYNDI8, pronounced “Syndi-eight,” is a four-member woman group, comprising digital members Canary, Nest, Goyo, and Raven.
HYBE’s Supertone says they exist inside the digital world of ‘Nansy Land’.
NANSY can also be the title of Supertone’s basis mannequin – which stands for Neural Evaluation & Synthesis.
Supertone is led by AI professional Kyogu Lee (Supertone President). In an unique interview with MBW final month, Lee defined that the corporate’s NANSY mannequin “serves because the spine of Supertone’s speech synthesis applied sciences”.
“NANSY has the particular potential to divide and re-assemble voice parts – timbre, linguistics, pitch, and loudness – individually and independently, producing natural-sounding voices with unparalleled realism,” Lee stated.
You may learn the analysis paper for NANSY, right here.
In its announcement about SYNDI8, Supertone stated it goals to “discover the functions of [its] expertise within the music content material enterprise and to domesticate [its] personal voice mental property (IP) to display the capabilities of [its] creations”.
HYBE beforehand showcased the probabilities of what it will probably do with Supertone’s expertise in Could final 12 months when it launched a single known as Masquerade from an artist known as MIDNATT – described as HYBE’s first AI-powered artist.
MIDNATT, the digital alter-ego of HYBE-signed artist Lee Hyun, used a prototype model of Supertone’s real-time voice-changing device Supertone Shift to “seamlessly” transition between his personal vocals and the vocals of a feminine singer on the monitor Masquerade.
That very same monitor was touted by HYBE because the “first-ever multilingual monitor produced in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese language, Spanish and Vietnamese”.
Most not too long ago, HYBE’s new digital group has launched a three-track album known as MVP, which options lead single ATOTA (brief for Any To One To Any), My Fantasy, and True Colour, with the latter monitor adopting a contemporary R&B fashion.
You may hear the lead single, ATOTA, beneath:
“SYNDI8 is a digital artist group born from Supertone’s voice synthesis applied sciences, impressed by the corporate’s progress story. Embodying the fantasy universe, the group plans to have interaction with followers throughout varied platforms.”
Deja and Han, SYNDI8
An animated story titled Magic Voice Prism: The Journey Begins was additionally launched alongside the album.
“SYNDI8 is a digital artist group born from Supertone’s voice synthesis applied sciences, impressed by the corporate’s progress story. Embodying the fantasy universe, the group plans to have interaction with followers throughout varied platforms,” stated SYNDI8 co-producers Deja and Han.
HYBE additionally demonstrated the capabilities of its proprietary AI on its Q1 investor name, when HYBE’s CEO Jiwon Park consented to having his personal voice cloned utilizing Supertone’s ‘voice synthesis expertise’.
Final month, MBW requested Supertone President Kyogu Lee if the corporate’s tech will probably be used to recreate the voices of superstars like BTS.
He instructed us: “Whereas Supertone is theoretically able to creating an infinite variety of new and unique voices, in addition to recreating current voices, we’re dedicated to prioritizing the rights of all artists and creators, together with these underneath HYBE.”
Supertone’s work has additionally been featured in Disney+ and Netflix sequence.
The corporate says it’s increasing its attain to assist creators with instruments like its AI noise discount plug-in Supertone Clear and voice changer Supertone Shift, which launched in April.
SYNDI8’s debut arrives amid the ongoing debate about the usage of AI to create and recreate voices within the music trade.
Music Enterprise Worldwide
