It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is gaining popularity. The rapid evolution of this technology means new possibilities for artists, but at the same time it raises ethical and legal concerns. Is the panic justified?
Should we see artificial intelligence as a growing threat to the music industry? Should artists start worrying about their income?AB and KU Leuven both feel it’s worth taking a closer look at the topic of artificial intelligence in music. To that end, they’re holding an animated panel debate in the AB Club on Monday 4 December. Jozefien Vanherpe (KU Leuven), Brecht De Man (PXL-Music), Ashley Morgan (producer) and Hazel Savage will be taking part. Jan Pauly (Freelance consultant, Howest) will moderate the talk.
Watch the talk live via this link! Monday December 4 at 8pm.
Discover the panel.
Jozefien Vanherpe
Jozefien Vanherpe is a professor at the Centre for IT and IP Law (CiTiP) at KU Leuven. She studied law at KU Leuven and the University of Cambridge. After several years working as an intellectual rights lawyer, she made the switch to academia in early 2019. In spring 2022, Jozefien defended her PhD on the legal framework around contracts in the music industry. Since October 2022, Jozefien has been appointed as a professor, guiding law, engineering and biomedical sciences students through the wonderful world of intellectual property law. She also conducts research on the application of intellectual rights in the digital world, including in the light of the development of artificial intelligence.
Brecht De Man
Brecht De Man is Head of Research at PXL-Music, guest lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, and author of Intelligent Music Production (Routledge 2019).
He holds a PhD from the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London, where he developed and evaluated smart tools for audio production processes. His research on perception and automation of music mixing translated to 30+ papers, book chapters, patents, and a book. In this context he also worked with companies ranging from startups like LANDR and corporations like Yamaha, and co-founded Semantic Audio Labs to build a smart, collaborative and online Digital Audio Workstation.
Brecht is a volunteer leader at the Audio Engineering Society, having served as Director, founding member of the Technical Committee on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, and Chair of the Belgian section. A lifelong musician, he is passionate about the (co)creative potential of AI driven by artistic visions.
Ashley Morgan
Ashley Morgan is a music producer, multi-instrumentalist and artist based in Brussels, and part of the Noannaos collective.
As a young kid in the Soundcloud era he appeared on the scene under the moniker of LTGL. He created a name for himself through his left field productions and mind bending live sets, whether it was the numerous festivals, the Boiler Room in the Atomium, or Low End Theory in LA, he made sure to leave an impression with his unique approach to electronic music.
Eventually he quit the LTGL project, in order to find himself creatively again.
After spending time in between DJ'ing for Dvtch Norris, studying jazz and writing raps, he reemerged as a surprisingly skilled vocalist, rapping and singing over his own productions, this time using his real name, Ashley Morgan.
Now two EP's and a few singles later, he mainly keeps himself occupied by working on various other artistic projects. Whether that's DJ'ing or organising events with his close friends Pippin and Susobrino in the context of their label/collective Noannaos, or working with choreographers like Ula Sickle or Nikima Jagudajev, no one really knows what's next with Ashley Morgan.
Moderator Jan Pauly
Jan is a music industry professional with a specific interest in tech and innovation. He has worked at VI.BE (the support organisation for artists and music industry professionals) for the past 15 years, where he has lead knowledge management, coordinated applied research within the music industry and has kept a keen eye on trends and developments. The last couple of years he focused more on the technological developments within the music industry and adjacent sectors. Jan has a strong interest in game technology and its possibilities for creation, consumption and the experience of music. At DAE Research (Howest) he leads the Virtual Music Experiences research project which explores exactly that. From the start, Jan was also involved in Unwrap, the conference on the future of digital entertainment, where he curates the music tech track.
Hazel Savage
With 15 years experience in the industry, Hazel is a music-tech lifer, guitarist and former CEO/Co-Founder at Musiio. She started her music-tech journey as an early employee at Shazam and spent time understanding the pain points of the industry at Pandora, Universal and HMV before launching Musiio in 2018 and then selling the business to SoundCloud in 2022.
Hazel travels globally speaking at conferences and talking to catalogue owners about the value of artificial intelligence integration and digital transformation in the music industry. As a female founder in the heavily male-dominated industries of music and tech, Hazel seeks to offer insights with interesting and humorous anecdotes, as well as easy-to-follow explanations and use cases of artificial intelligence technology.
