HYBE has announced a new AI-powered artist, SYNDI8, adding another ripple to the debate over AI-generated music and copyright — this time it’s a girl group.
The K-pop megalabel, home to BTS, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN, and more, announced SYNDI8 (pronounced “shin-di-eight”) in late June after weeks of teasers on social media. The group is made up of four members — Canary, Nest, Goyo, and Raven — who hail from the fictional country of Nancyland and use “unique magical tools” to perform “audio magic.”
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For SYNDI8, HYBE has once again teamed up with Supertone, the AI voice technology company it acquired for 45 billion won (approximately $32 billion) in 2022. Last year, HYBE released its first AI-powered artist, MIDNATT, on Supertone, a virtual alter-ego of Korean singer Lee Hyun using his own vocals and featuring specially developed multilingual pronunciation correction technology.
So who exactly is SYNDI8?
According to Forbes, SYNDI8 uses AI voice synthesis to create an artificial voice that mimics the human voice. Supertone’s flagship AI voice synthesis technology, the NANSY (Neural Analysis and Synthesis) model, “has the special ability to split and reconstruct voice components,” Kyogu Lee, president of Supertone, told Music Business Worldwide.
As for the members, a detailed background story about SYNDI8’s origins has been published on the band’s website, detailing the four members of SYNDI8: Canary, Nest, Goyo, and Raven.
The tweet may have been deleted
The tweet may have been deleted
The tweet may have been deleted
The tweet may have been deleted
According to the group’s website, “Nest is the daughter of a scientist from the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) tribe. Canary is the daughter of a chief from the Canary (Serinus canaria) tribe. Raven is a hunter from the Raven (Corvus corax) tribe. But Goyo is the only human in Nancyland.”
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SYNDI8’s debut work, Best PlayerThe album, released on June 27th, includes three singles: “My Fantasy,” “ATOTA,” and “True Color.”
The accompanying YouTube clip, “Magic Voice Prism: The Journey Begins“, Kayle from Supertone is executive producer, Han and Deja are A&R and audio directors, and Chaiyeon Cho and Haeon are technical directors. The song currently has 53,000 plays, a relatively modest number by K-pop standards.
But there was already opposition to the group from the start.
Yes, there is already controversy over SYNDI8
Since SYNDI8’s release, plagiarism allegations have surfaced over the group’s illustrations. Fans have also accused HYBE of finding the name similar to that of SYNDI8’s Xu MingHao, also known as The8, from Seventeen.
Virtual groups are nothing new to K-pop, with artists like K/DA and aespa making inroads into the metaverse and other virtual worlds. League of LegendsThe AI-based members are all voiced by real singers, including (G)I-DLE’s Miyeon and Soyeon, Madison Beer, and Jaira Barnes, while AI-generated group Eternity uses face-swapping technology and AI-generated voices.
But it remains to be seen how audiences will react to HYBE’s latest experiment in AI-generated music. HYBE’s chairman Bang Si-hyuk said: Billboard “I’ve long doubted whether the subject of creating and producing music will remain human” in 2023. And this isn’t just about K-pop: YouTube is reportedly negotiating AI music deals with major US record companies.
US musicians have been vocal about the threat that AI poses to human creativity and pay, with 200 artists including Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder and Nicki Minaj signing an open letter in April condemning AI in the music industry, specifically calling out companies that “use AI to stifle creativity and undermine artists, songwriters, musicians and rights holders.”
