Randy Travis Uses AI For New Song

[TheBigA]

It's always a difficult spot to, on the one hand, ask country radio to play your new record. While on the other, going to congress to demand a new royalty that would require those stations to pay every time they play music.

NAB's LeGeyt To Fight Proposed Royalties On Capitol Hill Today - Radio Ink

NAB President Curtis LeGeyt is set to testify before the US House as efforts to impose a new performance royalty on local radio rise again.

radioink.com

Maybe he feels that since they won't play his new music, he should now demand new payments when they play his old hits. He also signed with Global Music Rights for publishing royalties. So radio already is paying them in addition to BMI and ASCAP.

 

[TheBigA]

Randy Travis has released a new song that once again draws on AI technology:

Randy Travis to Release New Song "Horses In Heaven"

Country music icon Randy Travis is set to release a brand-new song, "Horses In Heaven," this Friday, January 31st.

countrycentral.com

Country music icon Randy Travis is set to release a brand-new song, “Horses In Heaven,” this Friday, January 31st. Much like his single “Where That Came From” of last year, it will feature an AI-generated reproduction of Travis’s legendary voice, allowing fans to hear him sing once again despite the stroke that took his ability to perform over a decade ago.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Randy Travis has released a new song that once again draws on AI technology:

Randy Travis to Release New Song "Horses In Heaven"

Country music icon Randy Travis is set to release a brand-new song, "Horses In Heaven," this Friday, January 31st.

countrycentral.com

Speaking for myself and those close to me, we have become much more attuned to AI-generated content over the past year, mainly on social media of course. We've become quite accustomed to quickly questioning whether things are real. On social media, the answer is usually in the comments and nearly always negative. My perception is that people don't like AI generated stuff once they find out that's what it is, and that's supported by my own feelings about it.

It has been 9 months since Randy Travis's first AI release and while it generated plenty of buzz and discussion the first time around, my reaction this time is a dismissive shoulder shrug and inclination to click 'next'. The only reason I even listened to the song was to familiarize myself with it before commenting. The production sounds fine, but it's AI and that's now a huge negative IMO. Don't get me wrong, I think AI is great and I've been using it all day myself -- as a technical resource, but not to generate fake content.

 

[TheBigA]

By the way, the official press release for the song doesn't mention AI. Here is the text from the press release:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 31, 2025) - A year in the making, today brings the launch of Randy Travis’ brand new single, “Horses In Heaven” amidst a heavy week for many. The song, penned by Jon Randall and Matt Nolen, had quite the journey to Country Music Hall of Famer, Travis. It’s a perfect fit for the artist who has been horseback since he, quite literally, was a baby. Harold Traywick, Randy’s late father, was a renowned horse trainer in North Carolina and ensured that his children inherited his skills. Listen to the song here: ffm.to/horsesinheaven.OPR

Randy Travis addressed the heaviness of the moment in a statement on his social media, yesterday; “This has been an incredibly hard 24 hours. Last night, many souls were lost in the horrific plane crash in Washington, D.C. and this morning, we lost a dear member of our country music and Warner Music family, publishing giant Ben Vaughn. My prayers are with all of the people affected by these losses, including members of our team. Tomorrow's song release, "Horses In Heaven" feels like a timely reminder of God's love and mercy and I hope it brings some comfort to those of us hurting through these tragedies. We have decided to continue with this release and promotion of it, but felt remiss to not share what's on my heart right now... God Bless Ben, the victims of last night's crash and all who are feeling the heaviness of this moment.”