Robots in search for someone like Adele
FIRMS ‘MINE’ WEB TO FIND NEXT BIG THING
ROBOTS are picking the next Adele-style pop megastars by listening to millions of unsigned artists on the web.
It sees record companies switch from A&R talent scouts in a bid to find unknown musicians with the potential of the Someone Like You singer who are already popular with teenagers.
Jerry Zhang, co-founder of Sodatone that uses the technique, said: “An A&R used to go to one or two shows every night. But the amount of music that’s being released has increased by orders of magnitude.
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“An A&R can’t go to 100 shows a night. We’re just trying to help them to explore the music landscape.”
Warner Music Group – whose artists include Coldplay and Dua Lipa – bought Sodatone in 2018. The corporation says it has now doubled its number of signings using information gathered by its web-sweeping.
The software tracks artists’ bookings, mentions on music blogs and inclusions on playlists and charts, and assesses support from taste-makers, influencers and “playlisters”. Zhang added: “One artist, one influencer, with one social post can cause a significant shift in what’s cool. Or it could be a million teenagers gathered in a specific pocket of the internet.”
British company Instrumental uses data analysis to rank and sign overlooked artists by analysing their appearances
on streaming playlists being looked at by fans.
Experts say the technology wipes out prejudice as the bots are blind to age, race and looks – but critics say artificial intelligence is incapable of categorising more obscure music.
Adele, Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish all started by sharing songs online.