The music industry is vastly different from what it was around 20 years ago, with new technologies and experiences allowing music composition to transform monumentally. There are more advanced methods than ever to help musicians create, produce, and distribute music, as we have left behind the analogue era and dived into a more digitally advanced music revolution.
Technology advancements have not been made quicker than in the past decade, which has made for the most rapid change within the music industry than has ever been seen previously. From artificial intelligence to the blockchain to virtual reality, there are a lot of new elements at play with music composition and it’s important to understand these if you want to thrive in the industry.
We will explore the new technologies that have emerged and changed music composition within the past few years. By the end of this, you should have a clearer understanding and be inspired to use these technologies in your music compositions.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
While the use of AI can be daunting to some people, it can be an interesting way of helping you with the creative process of making music. Let’s take a look at some of the different AI technologies that are impacting music:
Machine Learning Algorithms
This new technology can help people explore, analyse and find meaning in complex sets of data. Music can be very complex, as there are many elements that can make up a composition, so machine learning algorithms can help composers access better tools that are capable of analysing data to produce original pieces of music.
Musicians can explore many different melodies, harmonies and rhythms in a more streamlined way, as machine learning algorithms can recommend what will work best for your music style.
AI Music Generation
Music can now be generated using AI to create original compositions that have transformed the industry. You can manually insert inputs and guidelines into an AI music generator to influence creations that fit exactly what you need. This technology has the power to create melodies, harmonies and lyrics in a quicker way than the human mind. If musicians are expected to create a piece of music within a tight deadline, using AI could be the solution.
With the current AI that we have at our disposal, there are advantages and disadvantages to consider as not everything that AI creates will be useful to your project.
AI Music Recommendations
AI can offer you individualised recommendations by both exploring large volumes of data based on music throughout history and taking on board your requirements. A combination of user preferences, listening behaviours and music metadata allows AI to suggest the best music solutions that will benefit your project.
It can take a lot of time to find fresh music that you can use as part of your music project, so using AI-powered recommendation systems can help save you time.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
VR and AR are both new technologies that have benefitted music composition in ways that were not even thought about in the past. Let’s explore some of these benefits.
Interactive Music Education
Transforming how individuals interact with and absorb music can make a huge difference in how music is composed. VR has allowed people to enter a virtual classroom and engage in immersive learning about music, including the composition process. This type of education program offers a unique chance for new artists to gain insight and knowledge from more experienced composers.
Being in such a virtual environment can allow you to practise several instruments, learn music production techniques and receive real-time feedback from instructors or other learners.
Performance Simulations
If you’re a performer of music, as well as a composer, the way your music comes across when you are performing is crucial to the composing process as you need music that will transfer well on stage. The ability to simulate the performance of your music composition can allow you to practise it and fine-tune anything that is missing before you take it in front of a real audience.
While the technology for this is still considered to be in its infancy, it could be a huge player in the world of music composition in the future. Live streaming is considered to be the best way to simulate music performance.
Blockchain
The composition of music is not just about creating the piece, but also about managing music rights and ensuring that the distribution process is as efficient as possible. There are several ways that blockchain technology can impact the music composing process.
Decentralised Music Distribution
Blockchain technology is still fairly new with many people still learning what it’s all about. Within the music industry, it can be very useful in distributing compositions to consumers and other musicians in a safe way. This technology is successful at distributing music, as it offers comprehensive information about audience tastes and their usual actions when it comes to music.
Without relying on traditional record labels, decentralised music distribution systems give artists greater control over their compositions and enable them to reach wider audiences.
Smart Contracts
Music industry royalties have always been a controversial topic when it comes to composing original pieces of music. Smart contracts have been used within the past few years to help with protecting royalties. The blockchain technology behind these smart contracts guarantees a fairer distribution of royalties between musicians.
With smart contracts, major record labels don’t have so much power as musicians can now negotiate and enforce their contracts. This has been a huge blessing for independent musicians. However, when dealing with smart contracts, it could be wise to consider bad debt insurance to protect you against non-payment.
Fair Music Licensing
Making the music industry fair and transparent is very important so that producers and performers receive the correct amount of compensation for their compositions. Blockchain technology has helped to improve this, as it has made it possible to use a distributed and unchangeable ledger to help control individual music rights.
This lowers the possibility of any conflicts surrounding music composition to occur, as it guarantees that everyone involved in the licensing of a track has access to all the correct and current information.
Internet of Musical Things (IoMT)
The IoMT represents the evolution of music in the sense of integrating digital technology through musical instruments and devices. While the analogue recording of traditional instruments is still integral to music composition, they can now be connected to the internet which enables them to enhance musical performance and production in new ways. This has changed the way we learn the guitar and other instruments.
There are now smart instruments and digital tools that musicians can use to improve the creation process of music, as well as their performance. These instruments are a key component of IoMT and are designed with built-in sensors for more advanced compositions. Recording the output of instruments directly to cloud storage is very beneficial to music composition, as it cuts out some stages that could slow down the process.
