‘No need to feed water-guzzling, planet-warming data centres’: Deezer’s new Remix Lab tool uses absolutely no artificial intelligence and debunks myths about sloppy music

Deezer unveils Remix Lab in-app tool in France; should be launched elsewhere soon
Lets you expand a song or combine two
Does not use AI; artists are paid

AI slop sellers may try to make you believe that artificial music is all fine and dandy music and that it’s impossible (or at least pretty unimportant) for original artists to get paid for it to work. Well, Deezer just proved that completely wrong.

The music streaming service just launched Remix Lab, a tool that lets you combine or remix songs and then add them to your library. It is available in the app right now, but only in France; the platform says it could come to more regions later this year, but for now it’s mostly French musicians included.

I know what you’re wondering and I asked: Deezer confirmed to TechRadar that no AI is used in the process. Happy days! The brand has been refreshingly anti-AI, but given how many companies have forgotten their anti-AI stances when a checkbook comes out, it never hurts to check.

AI? Not on this platform

Music remixing is nothing new, but usually it requires one of two things: either a level of technical know-how or the ability to temper your ethical qualms and use AI to do it. Since AI is often sold as a field levee – now lack of talent is no obstacle! – many assume that it should be used for those without education.

Not according to Deezer, though, proving you don’t need to feed water-guzzling, planet-warming data centers to riff on existing songs. Deezer also says it’s the first streaming platform ever to offer a song remix service with full rights compliance and in agreement with the artists, and I’d be inclined to believe them.

Another pervasive AI myth, perpetuated by world governments as much as unscrupulous rights holders, is that it is impossible to compensate artists for their works being used, and that permission is optional. These bots may have been trained on your back catalog without your consent, but that would be it impossible for you to apparently be compensated for this.

For Deezer, it doesn’t fly. The platform has confirmed that artists have agreed to have their songs used in the Remix Lab, and are compensated for remixes and listening through the tool. Leave ~~dollars~~ Euro roll!

Every day, AI sounds more and more superfluous; you can’t help but hear about companies laying off staff to save money and then spending more on AI credits, or filmmakers boosting their careers by making slop story shows and aligning themselves with AI brands. And so Deezer does the good job of continuing to show us that there is a better way – and that this ‘panacea’ should actually just be panned.