SoundLabs and UMG Announce Strategic Agreement to Offer Responsibly Trained AI Technology and Vocal Modeling Plug-In MicDrop to UMG Artists

Photo Credit: SoundLabs founder and electronic artist BT

SoundLabs announces a partnership with Universal Music Group to offer MicDrop, an AI vocal plug-in, to create ethical vocal models using an artist’s own voice data.SoundLabs, new AI technology company offering responsibly trained, next-gen AI tools for music creators, and Universal Music Group have announced a strategic agreement that will enable UMG’s artists and producers to use SoundLabs MicDrop. MicDrop is a cutting-edge AI vocal plug-in for creating official high fidelity vocal models for artists using their own voice data for training while retaining control over ownership and giving them full artistic approval and control of the output.

Officially launching this summer, MicDrop is a real-time (AU, VST3, AAX) plug-in compatible with all major digital audio workstations (DAWs). UMG and SoundLabs’ collaboration will enable UMG artists to create custom vocal models that will be available for their exclusive creative use cases, and not available to the general public.

SoundLabs was founded by software developer, composer, producer, and electronic artist BT. With a career spanning over 25 years, BT has released, produced, and remixed platinum and award-winning music for artists like David Bowie, Madonna, Sting, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Gabriel, and Seal. He has also scored films like “Monster” and “The Fast and the Furious.”

As a software developer, BT has pioneered new techniques in music creation tools that have been utilized in albums, scores, and trailers worldwide. He has patented and developed audio plug-ins like Stutter Edit, BreakTweaker (iZotope), Polaris, and Phobos (Spitfire Audio), among many others. His software products have generated over $70 million in gross sales.SoundLabs founding team also includes veteran software developers Joshua Dickinson and Dr. Michael Hetrick of Unfiltered Audio, known for redefining the limits of typical creative audio tools. Together, they expand the pursuit of ethical AI and the augmentation of human creativity.

MicDrop is the first in a suite of interoperable AI tools and services developed by SoundLabs for sound design and music generation. SoundLabs’ goal is to place powerful new tools at artists’ fingertips while supporting proper management of their intellectual property.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be working with the forward-thinking and creatively aligned Universal Music Group,” said BT. “We believe the future of music creation is decidedly human. Artificial intelligence, when used ethically and trained consensually, has the promethean ability to unlock unimaginable new creative insights, diminish friction in the creative process, and democratize creativity for artists, fans, and creators of all stripes. We are designing tools not to replace human artists, but to amplify human creativity.”

“UMG strives to keep artists at the center of our AI strategy, so that technology is used in service of artistry, rather than the other way around,” added Chris Horton, SVP, Strategic Technology at Universal Music. “We are thrilled to be working with SoundLabs and BT, who has a deep and personal understanding of both the technical and ethical issues related to AI.”“Through direct experience as a singer and in partnership with many vocal collaborators, BT understands how performers view and value their voices, and SoundLabs will allow UMG artists to push creative boundaries using voice-to-voice AI to sing in languages they don’t speak, perform duets with their younger selves, restore imperfect vocal recordings, and more,” Horton concludes.