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Comment by stigi | Hacker News Reader

Modern pop music follows strict patterns. I have little doubt that much of what's playing in the top 40 can be synthesized or already is :P

All that you need then is a human avatar that the kids can connect to and take as their role model.

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It does and it doesn't. The modern pop music that's most formulaic seems to be there mainly because then the managers can concentrate on promotions without worrying about what used to be known as A&R.

As an Olde Phart(tm), what DJs do looks very much to me like "a human avatar" and aggregator.

"All that you need then is a human avatar that the kids can connect to and take as their role model."

Already in production. See Hatsune Miku in live concerts.[1][2] Not only is the performer an avatar, the singing is synthesized by Vocaloid software, which you can buy.[3]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhYaX01NOfA [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyTmXLWCazw&nohtml5=False [3] http://www.vocaloid.com/en/

Yup, just need to "synthesize" words and melodies as the gp said and you're set.

"To create a song, the user must input the melody and lyrics".

The only problem though with using a strict pattern system is that it will, I believe, more than likely miss the nuances which a brilliant songwriter can weave into a structure. The song might be 90% as good, which makes a lot of difference I think. Max Martin is an absolute genius in this regard, and his years of success reflect that. He's also a musician, though he is truly making his living as a songwriter/producer.

Here's a great break-down of "Shake It Off" from a songwriting perspective, which kind of reveals the simplicity is deceptive in some ways:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5EWn6s65o8

The other day I was listening to some random pop song (maybe Demi Lovato, not sure) and it was sounding eerily Max Martinesque. I go to look it up, and there he was in the credits. There is just something there that stands out; I don't know if it can be trained into an AI, but my money is on no.

One thing you might be subconsciously catching on to is that Max Martin is committed to "balanced lines" when it comes to vocals. It's obious in "Hit Me Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears and his fingerprints on "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry. Here's a great review and comment piece featuring 30 songs by Max Martin, in order to better study the guy's techniques which seem to work so well:

http://www.stereogum.com/1788251/30-essential-max-martin-son...

Also, I forgot to mention that the weird thing about music is that it follows trends just long enough to want a new one. Thus, whatever formula might win out for a period of time would likely be usurped by a variation or counter-intuitive trend. A funny thought in this line is that a hit-making, successful "Hair Metal Pop" AI would be going great until the "Grunge Rock Pop" AI started getting traction. Humans are fickle!

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