Korean-made artificial intelligence (AI) music is drawing attention on the global stage. The worldwide popularity of K-pop and K-music appears to be expanding into "K-AI music."
According to the music industry on the 2nd, six of the 15 songs that advanced to the semifinals of the Swiss AI jazz competition "AI LOVE JAZZ," held on the 9th and 10th of this month (local time), were submitted by Koreans. "AI LOVE JAZZ" is a global AI jazz contest held for the first time this year to mark the 60th anniversary of the internationally renowned "Montreux Jazz Festival" in Montreux, Switzerland. Although it was held in line with the festival period, it is a separate event.
Six Korean submissions advanced to the "AI LOVE JAZZ" semifinals, including "Frozen Edge" (Yong Ho-seong), "Assa!" (Na-rim), "Rain in Cuba" (Cho Eun-jin), "Ash Tonight" (Won.J), "Lotus Night in Montreux" (Gyu-in), and "Body & Seoul" (Anna Yoon).
The competition organizers arranged for a local band to perform all 15 semifinal songs live before an audience on the 9th. The final winner will then be announced on the 10th. As the world rapidly shifts into the AI era, Koreans' creation of AI music is also increasing, but the fact that there are so many Korean submissions at an international competition — and one held in Europe at that — is noteworthy.
"AI LOVE JAZZ" drew attention because it includes a song composed by Yong Ho-seong, a former vice minister of culture, sports and tourism who is not a professional musician. Yong passed the Higher Civil Service Examination in 1991, joined the Ministry of Culture and Sports (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in 1993, and retired last year. Despite his busy schedule, he is also well known as a "music enthusiast," playing drums, debuting as a music critic, and collecting more than 10,000 albums.
In a phone call with Seoul Economic Daily, Yong said, "The submitted song is part of the 'Shakespeare Sonnet Project: DiVerse,' which was scheduled to launch around the end of August in the form of a series of albums by genre." He explained, "Under the stage name 'Dr. Dragon,' I am reinterpreting the concept and message of all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets (14-line formal poems) in a modern way, writing new lyrics, and creating songs suited to the characteristics of each set of lyrics with the AI tool Suno. I have currently completed about 50 songs, and 'Frozen Edge' is one of them."
He added, "Because the local band was to perform on stage in the semifinal competition, I revised the song, which I had made in a Korean version, to fit English rhymes."
Yong assessed, "I think it is meaningful in many respects that a competition actively utilizing AI tools began in the genre of jazz. Seoul Institute of the Arts also recently announced that starting with admissions next year, it will accept works made using Suno. It is quite interesting to see how such a trend will change the ecosystem of the music industry."
