Why Did Spotify Hire This Expert In Music-Making AI?

Officially, Pachet will head up Spotify's new Creator Technology Research Lab in Paris. The lab "will focus on making tools to help artists in their creative process," according to a blog post from Spotify. The blurb doesn't go into any more detail than that, but a rundown of Pachet's previous work invites a few educated guesses. Until recently, Pachet led Sony's Computer Science Laboratory in Paris, which he helped found 20 years ago. In that capacity, he worked on a range of music intelligence technologies, including a project called Flow Machines that aims to teach computers how to understand musical style and composition.