The Rundown: “Now and Then,” The Beatles’ AI-enhanced final song, released a year ago, just became the first AI-assisted track to receive Grammy nominations — marking a historical moment for AI’s role in music production.
The details:
The song earned nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance, competing against artists like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
•The track used AI “stem separation” technology to clean up and isolate John Lennon’s vocals from a 1978 unreleased demo.
•The AI technique mirrors noise-canceling technology used in video calls, training models to identify and separate specific sounds.
•The nomination follows the Grammy’s 2023 denial of consideration to viral AI creator Ghostwriter due to the unauthorized use of vocals.
Why it matters: The Beatles have been pioneers throughout music history, so it’s only fitting that they help carry the baton into this new era of AI-assisted production and creation. The coming wave of song generation will be an even bigger shift, but this technique shows how artists can also use AI as a tool for preservation and restoration.
