In this article, we first survey the three major types of computer music systems based on AI techniques: (1) compositional, (2) improvisational, and (3) performance systems. Representative examples of each type are briefly described. Then, we look in more detail at the problem of endowing the resulting performances with the expressiveness that characterizes human-generated music. This is one of the most challenging aspects of computer music that has been addressed just recently. The main problem in modeling expressiveness is to grasp the performer's "touch," that is, the knowledge applied when performing a score.

Since time immemorial, sound has been a key source of communication within nature. Birds, bees, whistle of the foliage, thunder, the whisper of air, dolphins speaking underwater and many more such forms of sound are some of the visible examples created by nature, with well-defined purposes. If one were to meander through a dense, human uninhabited forestland, and tip toe in silence, the various forms of the above sounds can be experienced in its raw form, and is a fascinating raw, musical experience! A music that does not have a well-defined structure, but nevertheless, an experience worth savouring! We all know that sound and its associated emotions has been a primary source of human communication.

AI is capable of making music, but does that make AI an artist? As AI begins to reshape how music is made, our legal systems are going to be confronted with some messy questions regarding authorship. Do AI algorithms create their own work, or is it the humans behind them? What happens if AI software trained solely on Beyoncé creates a track that sounds just like her? "I won't mince words," says Jonathan Bailey, CTO of iZotope. "This is a total legal clusterfuck."

From Elgar to Adele, and the Beatles or Pink Floyd to Kanye West, London's Abbey Road Studios has hosted a storied list of musical stars since opening in 1931. The man sitting at the keyboard where John Lennon may have finessed A Day in the Life is Siavash Mahdavi, CEO of AI Music, a British tech startup exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence and music. His company is one of two AI firms currently taking part in Abbey Road Red, a startup incubator run by the studios that aims to forge links between new tech companies and the music industry. It's not alone: Los Angeles-based startup accelerator Techstars Music, part-funded by major labels Sony Music and Warner Music Group, included two AI startups in its programme earlier this year: Amper Music and Popgun. This is definitely a burgeoning sector.