Maybe Time for ‘Twist and Shout’ – The Beatles’ AI-repaired Song ‘Now and Then’ Earns Grammy Nominations
The Beatles scored Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance for their song “Now and Then,” a “lost” song that was found and restored with the help of AI. This is the first time that an AI-assisted song has received such recognition and could portend many arguments about the role of AI in music production.
“Now and Then” was released last year and received a lot of attention, not only because it was a Beatles song that most hadn’t heard, but also because of its AI-infused production. It was rumored that surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr used generative AI to clone John Lennon’s voice for the song. However, that was not true. Instead, “voice separation” AI let the producers isolate Lennon’s vocals from an existing demo track that was too low-fidelity to be useful for a real song. The AI tools improved Lennon’s voice by removing background noise and tuning the voice to make the audio better.
It’s a bit like the way video calling platforms use technology to filter out sounds that aren’t your voice to ensure the person on the other end of the line can hear you. Companies with a lot of poor quality archival audio are also experimenting with voice separation, including Disney Music Group.
AI Grammys
The Recording Academy, which awards the Grammys, is figuring out how to integrate AI for music production into its infrastructure. Last year, CEO Harvey Mason Jr. spoke. extensively about AI and even held a roundtable discussion with record labels, streaming services, artists and the developers of AI for music making. Apps that use AI to create music, such as Tad.AI, Suno and Udio, are all facing lawsuits from major music labels, which will likely only become more complex as questions arise about eligibility for awards.
Unless you’re in the music business, “Now and Then” is just a fun way to get some more Beatles music using modern technology. Whether it’s a sign of a new way of making and selling music is still up in the air. As one of the most popular bands of all time, The Beatles are something of an outlier.
The nominations for “Now and Then” are The Beatles’ first Grammy nominations in decades, for obvious reasons. They have now been nominated for Record of the Year a total of four times. But “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be” all lost the Grammy. With some AI boost, “Now and Then” could change that losing streak.
