Afrobeats has gained global popularity for its lively rhythms and rich cultural heritage. However, the emergence of AI music tools has sparked concerns about whether AI can replicate the emotion of human-created Afrobeats, or if the genre must innovate to remain competitive.
At the second edition of the Music Business Conference held at Lagos Business School in Lekki, Lagos, a panel themed, “AI and Music Creation: Innovation or Imitation?” attempted to answer this question.
Moderated by Joey Akan, a music journalist, the panel featured Akachi Igboko (A&R Manager, Mavin Records), Laolu Aranmolate (Music Executive, Nooks Record), Osarumen Osamuyi (Producer & Technology Analyst), and Excel Joab (A&R Manager, AWAL Africa).
Their discussion evolved around how AI could reshape Afrobeats creation, touching on its limits and risks.
AI as a creative tool
While all the panellists agreed that AI could streamline music production, Akachi of Mavin said, “It comes down to the individual use.” He cited Splice, a sample library he uses for melodies when his drum-making skills outpace his melodic instincts.
“Do you use it to accentuate what you are trying to do, or as the bedrock?” He admitted relying on Splice but stressed the need for self-reliance when the network provider fails.
Aranmolate of Nooks called AI an “enhancement tool.” “You craft your soul around the music,” he added, insisting AI supports, not supplants, creativity.
He noted that he uses Lambda AI software to cut time on tasks like mixing and mastering, as well as Deezer’s developing tools for mix settings with precision.
Limits of AI in imitating Afrobeats
Joab of AWAL challenged AI’s depth, saying, “AI cannot make Laho (song by Shallipopi), AI didn’t live in Benin. AI hasn’t done Yahoo. AI is trained on human input,” he said. “It is not sentient.” He said that Nigerian music’s nuances stem from lived experience, not algorithms.
The panel also agreed that while the use of AI speeds up editing, overreliance risks uniformity in almost all areas of music production, making it sound boring.
So far, there has not been any AI software that automatically creates authentic Afrobeats sound, according to Osarumen, due to limited training data. But he warned that as Afrobeats goes global, AI will catch up.
Read also: From millions to trillions: The prospects for Afrobeats are limitless
Ethics and legalities
The legalities of AI in music have not been fully understood even among major music companies. Music labels like Sony, UMG, and Warner Music Group are currently contemplating licensing and equity deals with AI Music startups Udio and Suno, aiming to set a precedent for ethical AI training and artist compensation.
Joab said, “There is no clear legal standpoint.” He cited that companies hide rights in dense terms and conditions statements, which discourages people from reading them.
Akachi reinforced this, urging vigilance. “Fruity Loops won’t claim your publishing,” he explained, “but third-party packs might say, ‘I get 10 percent if you use my sounds.’” Splice offers non-exclusive rights, he added, but not every platform does. “Read the Ts and Cs,” he advised, “or probe the limits.”
According to reports, 37 percent of workers in the marketing and advertising sector have adopted AI, while 75 percent of companies plan to adapt to AI within the next five years, reflecting a strategic shift toward AI-driven operations. While there isn’t much data about the music industry, Aranmolate claims that AI tools would soon be normalised in music production.
Osarumen emphasised vision over mechanics, saying that creative instincts, not just tools, will define the success of AI adoption.
Akachi urged that “prompt engineers,” those who master AI inputs, and “sound sourcers”, who feed it authentic African data to be the leaders of the AI movement as adoption grows. “AI is garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “Someone has to ensure it doesn’t call a table knocking a talking drum.”
