Timbaland has been staunchly defending the news that he’s launching an AI artist — and fans aren’t happy about it.
The legendary producer hopped on Instagram on Friday (June 6) to share a post about the situation amidst all the controversy that’s stemmed from him revealing that he’s introducing the world to his first AI-generated artist, TaTa.
“I know I’m trolling but let’s have real conversation,” Timbaland wrote in his post. “I love my independent artists. This doesn’t mean I’m not working with real artists anymore.”
Timbaland then dispelled the belief that the AI artist has learned from real artists’ music. “And nah I don’t train ai off y’all music,” he explained. “This just means more creativity for creators.”
In another slide of the same Instagram post, Timbo shared a video of music executive Ray Daniels explaining why the producer’s plan to make an AI artist make sense. “Why the fuck wouldn’t you?” Daniels can be seen saying. “Mickey Mouse is an AI character. Donald Dunk is an AI character. Bugs Bunny is an AI character.”
“You guys are looking at it wrong,” Daniels continued. “He’s gonna make a character that he can have sing songs and sell products. That’s all these cartoonists and young kid TV shows are doing anyway, so why are y’all mad at him?”
While Daniels may agree with Timbaland, many of the people in the producer’s comments section made it clear that they disagree. “You call it trolling, but the moves you are making are not jokes,” wrote British DJ Shy FX in his comments. “They are choices, and they come at the cost of real artists who are already fighting to be seen and heard.”
“You showed your colours when you attempted to make a song using Biggie’s AI generated voice,” Shy FX continued. “You made it even clearer by partnering with Suno, whose founder has been very vocal about wanting to replace musicians, not support them. And now this? This isn’t disruption. It’s a cash-in.”
Producer Wes Beats expressed disappointment in the announcement as well. “As an upcoming producer, I gotta be real… stuff like this hits different,” he wrote. “When you’ve been grinding for years, learning your craft, sacrificing time with family, and pouring your soul into every beat… seeing major figures turn to AI like it’s the next big thing feels like a slap in the face.”
Journalist Rob Markman also chimed in, debunking Ray Daniels’ point. “Mickey Mouse was created by a human, drawn by a human, written by a human, voiced by a human… not the same,” he wrote.
A fan shared the same opinion as Markman, adding: “None of those things the guy mentioned (mickey mouse, bugs bunny) are AI characters those are characters created written and animated by PEOPLE. Do you not see the resounding rejection you’re facing for this?”
They continued: “Maybe you’re not training your AI off others music but you’re training it off of YOURS. The machine does not deserve what you’ve built to train off of and you will be left with a music product that has no soul and people will intrinsically not connect to, I can almost guarantee it. I just don’t understand why you’d decide to endeavor into this, I’m assuming laziness Timbo. just keep making the music by hand man you don’t need a computer to develop and generate samples or melodies or beats for you.”
On June 5, Timbaland announced that his company Stage Zero was coming out with its first AI artist in an attempt to usher in a new genre of music known as artificial pop, or A-pop.
