SoundLabs and Universal Music Group announce strategic agreement to offer responsibly trained AI technology and vocal modeling plug-in MicDrop to UMG artists

18 June 2024 - Press release

SoundLabs is an artist-founded AI technology company, focused on creating responsibly trained generative AI tools for the next generation of music makers 

MicDrop is a cutting-edge vocal plug-in, that will allow artists to change their voice into any voice in real time

  

SoundLabs, An innovative new AI technology company offering responsibly trained, next-generation AI tools for music creators, and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, today announced a strategic agreement that will enable UMG’s global family of artists and producers to use SoundLabs MicDrop, a cutting-edge AI vocal plug-in, to create official ultra-high fidelity vocal models for artists using their own voice data for training while retaining control over ownership and giving them full artistic approval and control of the output.  

Launching this summer, MicDrop is a real-time (AU, VST3, AAX) plug-in compatible with all major DAWs. It empowers artists and producers to explore bleeding-edge vocal transformations, including voice-to-voice, voice-to-instrument, speech-to-singing, language transposition, and a myriad of previously impossible vocal transformations. Together, UMG and SoundLabs are collaborating to allow UMG artists to create custom vocal models that will be available for their exclusive creative use cases, and not available to the general public.

SoundLabs was founded by Grammy-nominated producer, composer, software developer, and electronic artist BT. With a career spanning over 25+ years, BT has released, produced, and remixed platinum and award-winning music for A-list artists including David Bowie, Madonna, Sting, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Gabriel, and Seal. He has also scored #1 box office and Oscar-winning films such as Monster and The Fast and the Furious. As a software developer, BT has revolutionized music creation tools and pioneered new techniques that are heard in albums, scores, and trailers daily. He has patented and developed award-winning audio plugins like Stutter Edit, BreakTweaker (iZotope), Polaris, and Phobos (Spitfire Audio), among many others, which are used by countless audio professionals. His software products have generated over $70 million USD in gross sales.

SoundLabs founding team also includes award-winning, veteran software developers Joshua Dickinson and Dr. Michael Hetrick of Unfiltered Audio, a brand known for redefining the limits of typical creative audio tools. Joining SoundLabs, they expand this pursuit into the realm of AI where they continue to explore the augmentation of human creative potential.  

MicDrop is the first in a suite of interoperable AI tools and services developed by SoundLabs for sound design and music generation. It gives artists new “music super-powers" and completely reimagines how music is made, enabling them to expand what is possible.

SoundLabs’ goal is to place powerful new compositional tools at artists’ fingertips, while supporting proper management of their intellectual property. SoundLabs was founded with a foundational respect for intellectual property rights and is focused on helping artists retain creative control over their data and models. 

SoundLabs founder BT said, “It’s a tremendous honor to be working with the forward-thinking and creatively aligned Universal Music Group. We believe the future of music creation is decidedly human. Artificial intelligence, when used ethically and trained consensually, has the promethean ability to unlock unimaginable new creative insights, diminish friction in the creative process and democratize creativity for artists, fans, and creators of all stripes. We are designing tools not to replace human artists, but to amplify human creativity.”

Chris Horton, SVP, Strategic Technology at Universal Music said, “UMG strives to keep artists at the center of our AI strategy, so that technology is used in service of artistry, rather than the other way around.  We are thrilled to be working with SoundLabs and BT, who has a deep and personal understanding of both the technical and ethical issues related to AI. Through direct experience as a singer and in partnership with many vocal collaborators, BT understands how performers view and value their voices, and SoundLabs will allow UMG artists to push creative boundaries using voice-to-voice AI to sing in languages they don’t speak, perform duets with their younger selves, restore imperfect vocal recordings, and more.”

UMG has long recognized and embraced the potential of AI to enhance and amplify human creativity, advance musical innovation, and expand the realms of audio production and sound technology with responsible and ethical applications that respect copyright. Recently, UMG and Roland published the Principles for Music Creation with AI (aiformusic.info), a series of clarifying statements relating to the responsible use of AI in music creation and advocating for their adoption across the music industry and creative community. The principles highlight the opportunity for innovation with AI in music production, composition, and songwriting while underscoring the need for transparency, equity, and community involvement. SoundLabs is pleased to have signed on in support of these shared principles.