Artificial intelligence has been at the center of controversy over AI tools generating music using the voices of artists without their permission. But on Wednesday, ElevenLabs announced signing big-name artists, including Liza Minnelli and Art Garfunkel, to produce tracks for its new AI music album, The Eleven Album.
ElevenLabs is an AI audio company, and its new arm, Eleven Music, is its first large-scale collaboration between music artists and AI. The album features songs from the pop, rap, EDM, and R&B genres, with each artist contributing an original track that blends their own sound with Eleven Music’s AI tech.
«My voice plus the technology simply opens another door,» Garfunkel said in a statement.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
A spokesperson at Eleven Music told CNET that everything is opt-in, transparent and permission-based. «Artists decide how their work is used, and nothing is trained or released without explicit consent,» they said. «Building trust and long-term relationships is central to how we collaborate.»
Minnelli, one of the artists participating in Eleven Music’s new album, supports using AI to continue creating new content while maintaining control over her projects.
«What interested me here was the idea of using my voice and new tools in service of expression, not instead of it,» Minnelli said in a statement. «This project respects the artist’s voice, the artist’s choices and the artist’s ownership … ElevenLabs makes it possible for anyone to be a creator and owner.»
The album also includes tracks by Patrick Patrikios, Willonius, IAMSU!, Demitri Leiros, Emily Falvey, Sunsetto, Kondzilla, Chris Lyons and Michael Feinstein, as well as two AI music artists: Angelbaby and Kai.
All streaming revenue goes back to the artists, ElevenLabs said.
Similar to Eleven Music, Spotify announced in October a new artificial intelligence partnership with several popular music labels, such as Sony and Universal. And Adobe dropped a new AI feature that allows you to create your own AI-generated music for videos. There are many AI tools out there that let you create your own music, with varying levels of success.
But other online music platforms like Bandcamp have banned the use of AI in their policies to maintain the human connection.
An Eleven Music spokesperson told CNET that the goal for the Eleven Album is to show what artist-led collaboration with AI can look like in practice. «Music has always evolved alongside new tools, from drum machines to synthesizers, and this project continues that tradition,» the spokesperson said.
If this album is successful, ElevenLabs hopes that it shows how AI can serve as a new creative instrument for songwriters to compose original works.
The Eleven Album is streaming on Spotify.