Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus to work with YouTube on AI music project

Abba band member Bjorn Ulvaeus and the estate of American music star Frank Sinatra are set to work with YouTube and Universal Music on a new artificial intelligence (AI) project.

The daughter of Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, who is also a singer-songwriter, composer Max Richter and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder have also signed up to YouTube’s Music AI Incubator.

In a statement on Monday, Ulvaeus said: “While some may find my decision controversial, I’ve joined this group with an open mind and purely out of curiosity about how an AI model works and what it could be capable of in a creative process.

“I believe that the more I understand, the better equipped I’ll be to advocate for and to help protect the rights of my fellow human creators.”

Ulvaeus, 78, has previously employed technology for Abba Voyage, a virtual concert that takes place in a purpose-built 3,000-seat arena in east London, and features motion-captured versions of the band.

Also among those to have joined YouTube’s project is American record producer Louis Bell, Brazilian singer Anitta, American singer-songwriter D4vd, American musician Don Was, Colombian musician Juanes, Grammy-winner Rodney Jerkins, and American rapper Yo Gotti.

In a blog post, YouTube chief executive Neal Mohan said AI helps enhance “music’s unique creative expression while also protecting music artists and the integrity of their work”.

He said that the work will have several principals such as a responsible embracing of AI, appropriate protections and scaling the Google video site’s content policies to meet technology challenges.

Richter said: “Like every new technology, AI brings with it opportunities, but it also raises profound challenges for the creative community.

“The tech world and the music distribution ecosystem are quickly evolving to embrace this transformative technology and, unless artists are part of this process, there is no way to ensure that our interests will be taken into account. We have to be in this conversation, or our voices won’t be heard.

“Therefore, I’m very happy to be part of the ‘artist incubator’ which will allow me to advocate for the interests of the creative community in the applications of AI to music and music distribution.”

YouTube said there had been more than 1.7 billion views of its videos related to generative AI tools in 2023.

Sir Lucian Grainge, chairman and chief executive of Universal Music Group, said: “Our challenge and opportunity as an industry is to establish effective tools, incentives and rewards – as well as rules of the road – that enable us to limit AI’s potential downside while promoting its promising upside.

“If we strike the right balance, I believe AI will amplify human imagination and enrich musical creativity in extraordinary new ways.”