AI Could Bring Dead Artists Back With New Music, Says Fantracks CEO

“Artificial intelligence could develop enough for us to enjoy new releases by artists that are no longer alive.” These were the words of Ty Roberts, CEO of Fantracks Music, as covered by The Print in a recent article. Speaking at the Synapse India Conclave in Gurugram on 22 February, Roberts urged musicians to think about the long-term future of their work in the age of AI.

“Musicians need to think about the afterlife — not just in a spiritual sense but also in a business and legal sense,” he said during his session titled Art & Digital Immortality. “Do they want their voice and music to live on after them? How will they keep their music integrity intact after they are gone?”

Roberts pointed out the rapid evolution of AI in music and film, citing projects such as ABBA Voyage which recreated ABBA as digital avatars performing as they did in 1979. Through motion capture and advanced visual technology, audiences were able to experience the band at the peak of their career, despite its members now being in their seventies.

Beyond digital resurrection, Roberts argued that AI is reshaping what audiences expect from live and recorded music. “It is no longer enough to just sing or play music,” he said. “Audiences want music with visual effects and production value.” Referring to large-scale productions like The Eras Tour by Taylor Swift, he noted that immersive visuals have become standard. In the future, he believes AI could help make high-quality visuals more accessible.

While the debate around AI has certainly raised quite a few uncomfortable questions, this one falls into somewhat of a grey area for the industry. Some time ago, Spotify faced immense scrutiny after AI-generated music was uploaded to a dead artist’s page. However, with the rise of AI, will uploads to dead artists’ pages soon become more common? There might be only one way to find out…