Artificial Intelligence: Where the Music of the Future Is Heading

In this chapter we venture into the future of music technologies, paying particular attention to the role that artificial intelligence (AI) may play in the creative phase and circulation of music in the coming years. In the music world is emerging a feeling that artificial intelligence may soon replace artists and musicians, transforming creativity into something cold and functional, perhaps at the service of the profit of industries and digital platforms. Our exploration about the future of music includes different levels of investigation. We will depart from a reflection related to the long-standing fascination about the mathematical foundations of music and the possibility of automating music creativity. Then, we will move to the analysis of some concrete applications of artificial intelligence in the world of music production, departing from the activities and strategies of the Creator Technology Research Lab, started in 2018 by Spotify; then we will analyze some of the most relevant platforms and technologies for automated music creation and distribution, including the service Amper for music creation, LANDR for audio mastering, and a series of blockchain-based tools for music distribution. Finally, our reflection will shift to what the implications might be of an ever more massive diffusion of different AI tools, primarily blockchain technology and its possible applications in the music sector.