AI + Westlife: A vision of the future?

Westlife are using AI technology to solidify their grip on the Chinese market.

No, the Irish boyband haven’t created stool-perching replicants of themselves (not yet, anyway). Instead, they’re releasing a single in Mandarin using Kugou AIK, apparently the world’s first AI singing technology.

They didn’t actually sing on the track – a cover of Love + Courage, a 2016 hit for the Chinese singer Jason Whang – but Kugou created a ‘version’ of their voices in Mandarin and the band “personally oversaw the entire creative process over a number of months and were fully involved in the final version.”

In a statement, Westlife said: “...this just felt like it could be another fun thing to do for our Chinese fans. It took months to get it right as we wanted it to be the perfect reflection of our voices and we are thrilled with the final version. It’s hugely exciting. We are delighted it is one of Jason Zhang’s songs as we performed with him on a previous tour. We hope our Chinese fans love it!”

As you’d expect, there are a lot of them. In 2021 the band held a ‘concert’ through the Chinese social media platform WeChat which was seen by 27.9 million viewers. One clip of that performance – a version of The Ordinary Road by Chinese singer Pu Shu – was viewed over 72 million times in just three days.

Tencent Music Entertainment are the organisation that have released the single and are driving the Westlife campaign in China. In a statement they said: “Since the release of their album Wild Dreams in 2021, Westlife have continued to deepen their connection with China and Tencent Music Entertainment.

“This ongoing mutual dedication is why we have chosen Westlife as the first international artist to collaborate with to release AI music. We hope to use AI technology to bring Westlife ‘a bit closer’ to their fans in China. This aligns perfectly with Tencent Music Entertainment's corporate mission of ‘creating endless possibilities with music and technology’."

In the UK Westlife’s best years were the Noughties, when they were second only to Robbie Williams in terms of singles sold. They’ve clocked up no fewer than 14 Number Ones, though none since The Rose in 2006. After splitting in 2012, they decided that the world had not had enough of their brand of ballad-heavy pop and reformed six years later.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Chinese are bothered at all by the fact that it isn’t actually the four members of Westlife singing on the track. If not, it’s a sure bet they won’t be the last Western act to release their music in this manner. Perhaps those stool-perching replicants aren’t so far fetched after all...