“Nobody wants to be me anyway”: Elvis Costello isn’t concerned about AI emulating his musical style
Unlike many musicians, Elvis Costello isn’t worried about AI being used to emulate his music as he feels nobody would want to “be” him anyway.
Artificial intelligence has been criticised by many, yet also supported by some figures across the industry – Noel Gallagher slammed a “fake” Oasis record that was created using the tech last year, while Alex Van Halen has more recently revealed that he’s considering finishing unreleased Van Halen material with the help of the tech, for example.
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While AI continues to expand and develop, concerns over its place in music continue to grow too. But not for Costello, who’s cool as a cucumber. In an interview with The Telegraph, he states, “Nobody wants to be me anyway, so I don’t see them conceiving of an algorithm that’s specifically trying to track me down.
“That ain’t gonna happen,” he continues. “There’s no money in it! Trust me on that. I live in a different universe to AI. So they can get on with that whole fantasy – get on your rocket ship and don’t fucking come back!”
Elsewhere in the interview, Costello explains, “Strictly speaking, I don’t think I’m a musician now, after all these years. That’s not false modesty. I wouldn’t get hired to be in anybody else’s band, put it that way. I’m a writer who uses music as the carriage to get the things over. If I was starting now, perhaps I would be less encouraged.”
Of being an artist in today’s market – especially among streaming platforms – he adds, “You have to be a sharp needle in a big haystack. That’s the problem with endless amounts of tracks, endless options, endless mixes, endless releases. As far as I can tell, major companies have got rid of all the creative people and just literally attend to the mechanics of how to release things.”
Elvis Costello is touring in the US next year, and tickets are still available. Earlier this November he released a joint album, The Coward Brothers, with T Bone Burnett.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
