This AI version of a hit Christmas song marks a new era for music

Whether you want to or not, everyone knows “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Recorded in 1958 by 13-year-old Brenda Lee, the song’s use in Home Alone helped make it a holiday staple. But have you ever wanted to hear a Spanish version created with help from AI? No? Too bad! 

Universal Music Group on Friday released “Noche Buena y Navidad,” a Spanish adaptation of the song that features an AI version of Lee’s vocals. Rewritten in Spanish and produced by producer/songwriter Auero Baqueiro, the song uses a plug-in from AI music tech company SoundLabs. The plug-in, MicDrop—which the company says integrates with most major digital audio workstations—can transform any vocals into another voice or instrument. 

To create “Noche Buena y Navidad,” after rewriting the song, Baquiero brought in Chilean vocalist Leyla Hoyle to sing it in Spanish while mimicking the pitch and phrasings of the original. The vocal stems were then sent to SoundLabs, which ran the vocals through its “Brenda Lee” AI vocal model that was trained on hours of the singer’s isolated vocal stems, including the original “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Baquiero then mixed the vocal into the original music elements of the track. The goal was to make it sound like 13-year old Lee was singing—and it does, but it also sounds a little uncanny.

The project was completed with a full sign-on from Lee, who is now 79 years old. “Throughout my career, I performed and recorded many songs in different languages, but I never recorded ‘Rockin’ in Spanish, which I would have loved to do,” Lee said in a press release. “To have this out now is pretty incredible, and I’m happy to introduce the song to fans in a new way.”

This is the first song to launch since UMG and SoundLab inked a strategic agreement in June, focused on helping UMG label artists turn their own voice data into high-quality vocal models. It’s likely not the last project that will emerge from the partnership. SoundLabs AI founder, BT—a producer and composer with more than 25 years in the industry–said in a press release he views “Noche Buena y Navidad” as “a tremendously exciting showcase” of MicDrop’s capabilities.

The song marks the first time an artist has authorized the use of AI to update their song in a different language, but UMG and SoundLab aren’t the first label and tech company to team up on such a project. In May 2023, Korean label Hybe used technology from its AI voice-tech subsidiary Supertone to launch a new artist, Midnatt, whose first single debuted in six languages.

As AI voice generators have become more widespread, the music industry has taken a dual approach to the technology—backing state and federal legislation that adds protections for an artist’s voice while identifying tech companies like SoundLab that give artists control over any AI-generated output. On the latter front, UMG has already grown its roster of AI partners since releasing “Noche Buena y Navidad.” On Monday, it announced an agreement with AI company Klay Vision, which claims to be building an ecosystem for “AI-driven experiences and content,” without competing with traditional catalogs like UMG, according to a press release.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. recently explained the industry’s approach in an interview on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies podcast. 

“We want to advocate for our human creators,” he said. “We also want to make sure they’re able to use any new tool, any new technology, and have it at their disposal to create great new works of art.”

https://www.fastcompany.com/91217425/ai-christmas-song-spanish-rockin-around-christmas-tree-soundlab-umg?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss