YouTube tests AI-powered music remixes

WASHINGTON: YouTube is exploring the future of music remixing with a new AI-driven feature, allowing creators to "restyle" licensed songs for their Shorts.

The company has launched a limited trial of this feature, named 'Dream Track', which enables creators to use artificial intelligence to customize various elements of a song, including its mood, genre, and tempo, as per The Verge.

Once the user enters a prompt to guide the restyling, the AI generates a unique 30-second remix that can be used in YouTube Shorts.

The feature is currently being tested by a small group of creators, with access granted to those invited to participate in the experiment.

To use 'Dream Track', creators can select an eligible song, describe how they want to transform it, and then let the AI produce the reworked track.

The remixed soundtracks will be labelled with clear attribution to the original song and will also include a note that the track was altered using AI.

YouTube has emphasized that the 'Dream Track' experiment will only feature music from artists who have consented to have their voices used by the AI.

Some of the participating artists include Charlie Puth, Charli XCX, Demi Lovato, and John Legend.

However, at this stage, it remains unclear which specific songs are available to remix and which music labels YouTube is working with to facilitate the project.

The new feature is part of YouTube's broader effort to bring more creative tools to its platform, especially for creators who make Shorts--a format that has seen tremendous growth in recent years, as per The Verge.

By leveraging AI, YouTube aims to offer users a greater degree of flexibility in how they engage with music, enabling them to generate personalized soundtracks that align with their creative visions.

Reports from June, obtained by The Verge, also suggested that YouTube had been in talks with major music labels to obtain permission to use their songs for AI training purposes.

This move could potentially pave the way for a larger-scale rollout of AI-powered music customization tools, which would further revolutionize how users interact with music on the platform.

While still in the experimental phase, 'Dream Track' offers a glimpse into the future of AI-assisted music creation, where creators can seamlessly blend original works with innovative new twists, giving rise to an entirely new genre of user-generated content.