‘사업가 변신’ 그룹 노이즈 출신 홍종구…“그 시절 AI 있었다면 당연히 썼죠”

Former Noise leader and vocalist Hong Jong-gu has transformed into an artificial intelligence (AI) music platform entrepreneur. His company, AmuChart, launched its official service last September. Speaking at a cafe near Gwanghwamun in Seoul, Hong highlighted the potential for AI music to dominate the market, noting that it would bring music in huge volumes at a rapid pace.

Prior to founding AmuChart, Hong had worked as a representative of an entertainment company and as a music producer after his Noise activities. He also taught students at a university for a decade. The idea for AI music came about six months ago. Speaking about the platform's concept, Hong likened AI music to snowfall from the sky, something that might be overlooked and eventually disappear but becomes interesting when gathered and molded into a snowball.

AmuChart functions as a chart and streaming platform for AI-generated music, ranking tracks based on factors beyond just playback counts, such as listening time, re-listening, storage, and followings. The company plans to introduce music creation and remastering features, as well as strengthen community functions that allow creators and listeners to interact.

Hong, who is currently working on a new song, intends to use AI technology in its production. The platform will also facilitate the production of AI-generated songs sung by actual musicians and released as records. The first project will feature Hong along with singers Jeong-bong and Tcho-ah, with each contributing one song to be released on AmuChart and existing music platforms.

He explained that the production costs of albums were previously prohibitively high, but AI technology has significantly reduced these expenses, opening up new opportunities for financially constrained musicians. Hong also announced plans for an AI music awards ceremony at the end of the year. Reflecting on the rapid advancements in AI music technology, Hong noted that while early AI music may not have been musically satisfying, it continues to improve, with listeners able to distinguish AI-generated compositions from human-created ones.

However, he acknowledged that AI-generated music cannot fully replace human creativity, stating that good AI music must still be performed by actual musicians. He emphasized that the most significant role for AI-generated music lies in its potential to create experiences that are not possible through human creation alone.