Meet pop’s newest star: the song bot

Some of the biggest names in K-Pop, including Spica, will perform some of the songs generated by AI at a concert in SeoulVALERIE MACON/GETTY IMAGES

The world’s first concert co-written by human composers and artificial intelligence is being held in South Korea, thanks to technology developed by two former King’s College choristers.

The biggest stars of K-Pop, or Korean pop music, will perform tracks created with the aid of Jukedeck, a British music technology start-up founded by two Cambridge graduates who met as schoolboys in the King’s choir.

The AI developed by Ed Newton-Rex and Patrick Stobb generates songs in different styles within seconds by analysing musical data. A selection has been adapted by composers and producers who “put in the human emotion” to make them more appealing.

The songs will be performed for the first time today at the Blue Square concert hall in Seoul and made available to download on iTunes afterwards. Some of the biggest names in K-Pop will perform, including singers from Produce 101, Spica and Highteen.

Mr Newton-Rex said he hoped the concert showed the potential of human-AI creative collaboration and that AI music could be used as raw material to inspire new compositions. He added: “AI music isn’t about replacing human musicians; it’s about giving human musicians new tools with which to make music.” The project is a collaboration with Enterarts, a Korean music and entertainment company.

Matthew Moore, Media Correspondent