Inside the Rise of AI Music: How Imogen Heap Is Shaping the Future | Billboard On The Record

AI is reshaping the music industry, and Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer Imogen Heap breaks down what this moment really means for creators. She joins host Kristin Robinson to unpack how she’s blended technology with artistry for two decades, the rise of generative AI and why it’s becoming harder to tell where human creativity ends and machine production begins.

Heap explains the urgent need for better metadata, identity layers and contributor search tools, and what it will take to set the right standards before AI becomes fully embedded in the music industry. She discusses the possibility of labels signing AI artists, the fears and misconceptions surrounding AI-generated work and why she believes art still matters if it resonates, no matter how it’s made. Heap also reflects on building her career independently, the flaws in traditional major label deals, and the innovations behind her Mi.Mu gloves as she envisions the future of human-driven music in an AI-powered era.

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Billboard On The Record is a podcast in partnership with SickBird Productions. 

Kristin Robinson:

When AI becomes the next popstar, who gets the spotlight? The artist or the algorithm? You might’ve caught recent headlines about so called Ai artists, or artists that heavily rely on AI tools like image, voice, or music models to make their songs. There’s one artist, Xania Monet for example, who recently signed a record deal and is climbing the Gospel Charts and is playing on radio stations across the country.

Meanwhile, last week a bunch of songs in the top 10 of the Country Sales chart were also songs that stemmed from this kind of AI artist. At a time when AI generated songs seem to be exploding, cropping up everywhere from TikTok trends to Billboard charts, it felt like the perfect time to dive into how this will impact artists and what can be done to protect human creativity in the process. And I couldn’t dream of a better guest to join me here today to discuss this topic than Imogen Heap. Welcome back to On the Record, a music business podcast from Billboard and SickBird Productions. As always, I’m your host Kristin Robinson and I’m thrilled to have Imogen Heap on the show today to talk about the rise of generative AI and how it will impact artists. Imogen is a multi Grammy winning singer, songwriter, producer, engineer and technologist who has been making music for over 2 decades now. And it’s clear that she still is somehow a few steps ahead of the rest of us.

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