Timbaland Planning AI Startup Following Backlash Over Use Of Notorious B.I.G.’s Voice
Timbaland is continuing his foray into AI and music with his new startup.
In a recent interview with Forbes, the Virginia hit-maker said he plans to “commercialize artificial intelligence software” in hopes of rethinking how music is made in a variety of situations.
“It’s going to really be a new way of creating and a new way of generating money with less costs,” he said. “I’m already here. This is what I’m doing. I’m going to lead the way.”
Timbaland Teases AI Record Featuring The Notorious B.I.G.
Light Energy Labs, a Miami-based company that Timbo co-founded last year with programmer and producer Zayd “Creatrgod” Portillo, reportedly developed the software. The producer believes that AI voice filters will “usher in a new era” of technology in music that will benefit both emerging and established artists. It will also provide the opportunity for a producer to use the voice of “a music legend who is no longer with us.”
That said, Timbaland notes that there are “legal issues centering on copyright and revenue-sharing” that need to be resolved before certain music can be released.
The move comes after Timbaland received backlash for using The Notorious B.I.G.’s voice in a recently released song he created. In an Instagram post, he acknowledged the controversy behind the latest technology and “the feelings of violating certain things, but let me tell you something. I got a solution.”
He reiterated, “I got a solution… We working on it .. it’s going to be beneficial to everybody, but in the meantime, you know, I got to share something that I‘ve been working on because I always wanted to do this, and I never got the chance to.”