This is a podcast with content creators. The guest of the issue is Alexey Kochetkov, CEO , with a story about generative music and his vision of the future of audio content.
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Alexey Kochetkov, CEO
: Since we are not only talking about text and conversational content, of course, we have not ignored the music. In particular, a fairly new direction in this area. Alexey, you are the CEO of the project . It is a streaming service that creates generative music. Tell me how it works?
Alexei: Generative music is created in real time by algorithms. This is music that can be adapted, applied in any field, personalized and so on. It is collected in real time from a certain number of samples.
A sample is a piece of music that every musician has the opportunity to record. That is, generative music is created from, as they say in English, human-made samples [samples created by man]. The algorithm analyzes them and creates a stream just for you.
Alina: Great. Music is created by an algorithm, the algorithm is created by people.
It makes sense to talk a little about the background of this project, about its beginning. Why did you decide to do it? Was it related to your musical interests?
Alexei: As they say, startups are born out of pain. I was running, and my side hurt constantly from switching music. At that moment, I had an idea: why not create an application in which the samples will line up in an endless composition, corresponding to the pace of my run. Thus was born the first idea of ββMubert.
The team was assembled on the same day and began to create a product, which subsequently, of course, made several pivots. But the concept itself is the same that was created on the first day.
This is music that has no beginning, no end, no pauses, no inter-song transitions.
Alina: Did your musical background somehow influence your choice or certain steps that were taken in the process of developing the application?
Alexei: No. I have a musical jazz education, and here it does not help much. I know the notes, I know how to play the double bass and what music consists of.
I've always been in charge of the bass. In all the groups in which I was present, I always took the lowest frequencies and played the double bass, bass guitar, and bass synthesizers. It doesn't help with Mubert. I just know roughly how music works, I listen to it a lot, and for a long time I have been convinced that there is no bad music or bad taste.
There is a personal taste and a personal approach to music. Each person has his own, and each person has the right to choose music and show his taste in this way.
It helps me a little knowledge of notes, harmonies and other things. But in general, besides me, about fifty other musicians are working on Mubert, who are actively involved in the development of the interface, music ranking systems and artificial intelligence systems. These are the people who constantly give advice and influence how Mubert sounds today.
Alina: Is it possible to say that, in essence, generative music is the type of music that harmoniously combines with other activities?
For example, writing text or working to music is usually a pleasure for everyone. Some people get used to it, some people don't. Can algorithmic music give a synergistic effect, which, on the contrary, will allow you to enter a state of flow?
Alexei: This is a hypothesis, and we are trying to test it.
They will soon read to generative music - we are making a joint application with Bookmate. People run marathons to generative music, and this is the only application that allows you to run and not change your pace for four, eight, sixteen hours, and so on. Under this music work, study. It might be a cool approach to music to be a sponsor of your hobby. But this is a hypothesis.
Alina: And you check it with collaborations?
Alexei: It is confirmed by subscriptions and auditions that take place every day in Mubert. For example, meditation is our most purchased channel.
There are three paid channels in total: Meditate, Sleep and High. High is dub, reggae. The most bought is meditation, because in the process of meditation the music should not stop or change. Mubert does it.
Alina: And High for what states, if not taken literally? (laughs)
Alexei: Rest, relax, feel some kind of connection and so on.
Alina: Great. Tell me, please, in your opinion, generative music - algorithmic, repetitive, long - is it something fundamentally new or some kind of continuation of ethnic, shamanic and meditative music?
Alexei: It's kind of like a repeat.
Mubert started in 2000 actually when I was re-recording from radio Monte Carlo [track] . As soon as it was on the radio, I kept recording on cassette until I had a whole side with this track. Then I did the same with the other side. I ended up with a whole cassette with only Bomfunk MC's - Freestyler on it.
Mubert returns to these times. Lots of people use music on repeat. They turn on a track and work to it all day or play sports for a while.
Generative music in its current state does not fully have all the drama that a DJ can give. He understands in real time what needs to be raised now , now lower, expand the harmony or narrow. Generative music only strives for this.
And we are pioneers in creating drama in generative music, which we have learned to create infinitely long, smooth and understandable. Now we are learning to create drama in it.
As we recently showed in the adidas store. We created a DJ set without a DJ, and a lot of people danced beautifully to this music. It sounded at the level of German DJs, who, in principle, were the authors of the samples. But it was the set that created Mubert.
To answer the question, generative music takes its origins from repetition and ends up in ways we can't imagine yet.
Alina: How does the algorithm work?
Alexei: The algorithm analyzes many parameters: melody, rhythm, saturation, "fat" sound, instrument. His tempo, tone, and so on. A bunch of parameters that are objective. Next comes the subjective parameters. This is a genre, activity, your taste. There may be parameters related to geodata. When you want to collect, for example, a city stream, you need to understand how the city of Berlin sounds.
The AI ββsystem here is an accompanist to ensure that the subjective parameters are executed. So that at the moment of some of your activities you receive music that is based on your taste and on those things that you have already managed to show on this system.
Soon we will release an application where you can like, dislike, "favorite" music and influence your own style. This will be the first app in the world that does not have a shared chart. We don't even have in the database such a thing as an overall chart of popularity or unpopularity of samples and artists. Each has its own chart, which contains combinations of parameters. Based on them, the system learns and creates your own soundtrack.
Alina: In essence, we are talking about the fact that for each user of Mubert there are many soundtracks for different aspects of his life.
Alexei: Yes. This is the first real personal streaming.
Alina: Great. You have already started talking about collaborations with adidas, but please tell us about collaborations with brands in general. How do they look?
Alexei: Music is the closest form of creativity to man. Accordingly, if a brand wants to get closer to a person, this must be done through music. Few people know about this yet, but those brands that know are already starting to do it.
For example, adidas holds pop-up parties that pop up all of a sudden in some of their stores. They are not advertised. Other brands sponsor themed parties.
To whom should they move, if not to new technologies? They have two options: they either take a top DJ or they take top technology. If there is an opportunity to combine it - as we did with adidas, when we had samples provided by one of the top producers in Berlin - a person who created electronics. Then the brightest spark is born, which sparkles so that the brand can declare itself.
For any brand, music is an informational occasion.
Alina: If we are talking about parties ... There are, of course, a lot of people. How does Mubert understand what kind of music to make? How does personalization work in this case?
Alexei: The party is customized for the party, the city - for the city. This is allβ¦
Alina: Essence.
Alexei: Yes, an entity that we can tune into. Personalization goes from your time of day and day to some global things. As I already explained: there are objective parameters, there are subjective ones. The set of subjective parameters is genre, city, you, morning. Anything. Objective - the saturation of the sound, its tempo, tone, gamma, and so on. All those things that can be measured objectively.
Alina: How do you think generative music and music in general will develop? Will the algorithm replace the human composer or DJ in the future?
Alexei: In no case. The DJ selector will remain. Cooler than a DJ, you can not collect music - whether it be track music or sample music. DJs used to be called selectors, and this job will remain because they collect the most "fat".
The development of generative music will lead to the fact that it will appear in every phone, because it provides slightly different opportunities for adapting and personalizing this music. It will also contain author's selections. For example, we will be able to exchange some generations and understand how you trained your Mubert, and how I trained mine. It's kind of like today's playlists, only on a deeper level.
Alina: It turns out that the future of generative music is a symbiosis of a human creator and an algorithm that analyzes everything that happens more deeply and accurately?
Alexei: Absolutely.
Alina: Great. And finally - our blitz of two questions. Music helps...
Alexei: Live, breathe.
Alina: The best track is the one...
Alexei: Which "inserts".
Alina: Class, thank you very much.
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Source: habr.com