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\n\tWelcome to\u00a0Rendering<\/a>, a Deadline column reporting at the intersection of\u00a0AI<\/a>\u00a0and showbiz. Rendering examines how\u00a0artificial intelligence<\/a>\u00a0is disrupting the entertainment industry, taking you inside key battlegrounds and spotlighting change makers wielding the technology for good and ill.<\/em>\u00a0Got a story about AI? Rendering wants to hear from you: jkanter@deadline.com.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tThis edition: Inside Liza Minnelli<\/a>\u2018s partnership with AI company ElevenLabs<\/a> to create new music.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMinnelli, Minnelli, Minnelli. Liza, Liza, Liza. Ha! That\u2019s me,\u201d trills the unmistakable Liza Minnelli. \u201cKids, wait until you hear this.\u201d That\u2019s the sound of the Cabaret<\/em> star\u2019s first new music release in years (listen here<\/a>). And the reason she\u2019s beckoning kids into disbelief? She laid down the track using AI.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe 79-year-old EGOT icon has teamed with ElevenLabs, a fast-growing generative AI company backed by Matthew McConaughey<\/a>, on its first record. The Eleven Album<\/em> features contributions from artists boasting a billion streams, including Art Garfunkel, Bay Area rapper Iamsu!, and Emily Falvey, a Nashville songwriter.<\/p>\n \n\tMinnelli\u2019s presence is perhaps the most eye-catching. It\u2019s a collab that seems baffling in theory, but in reality, was an understandable step for the New York, New York<\/em> songstress, who built trust with ElevenLabs after the startup recreated the voice of her mother.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe happened to license the voice of Judy Garland<\/a>, one of the most famous singers and actresses of all time,\u201d explains Dustin Blank, head of partnerships for ElevenLabs. \u201cWe developed a relationship from there.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tElevenLabs can create authentic voice avatars from basic audio samples, but its music model has flipped this strategy on its head. On Minnelli\u2019s track, \u201cKids Wait Until You Hear This,\u201d her vocals are the real deal, while the music arrangement around her is artificially generated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe sound is created using text prompts, which can direct the AI model to create genres, beats, and lyrics, as well as adding individual instruments to tracks. ElevenLabs trained its music AI through deals with Merlin Network and Kobalt Music Group, publishing platforms for independent artists.<\/p>\n \n\tTyping music prompts may seem anathema to many recording artists, but in a statement, Minnelli says it allowed her to use her \u201cvoice and new tools in service of expression, not instead of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBlank tells Deadline\u2019s Rendering<\/em> column that there has been a sense of \u201ccuriosity\u201d among the artists who collaborated on The Eleven Album<\/em>. \u201cLiza and Art Garfunkel have been around for years and have seen iterations of technology and music. For them, it\u2019s a continuation of what they have worked with throughout their career,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n \n\tThere is truth in this. Minnelli\u2019s Emmy-winning NBC show Liza With a Z<\/em> helped redefine music television specials in 1972, when it was shot as a live performance by eight cameras. She has also proved herself unafraid of a synth bob, collabing with the Pet Shop Boys at the height of their powers on 1989\u2019s Results<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tElevenLabs, founded by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr D\u0105bkowski, believes AI music is a growth opportunity, as it reportedly seeks investment<\/a> at a valuation of $11B. Blank points to a recent Morgan Stanley survey of U.S. audio habits, which found that more than half of young people listen to hours of AI music every week.<\/p>\n