Common Music Group has been on the forefront of the convergence of the music and wellness industries over the previous few years.
In 2021, UMG struck a partnership with $34 million-backed MedRhythms for its music for use to deal with neurologic damage.
In 2022, Common turned the unique launch companion for an AI-driven music app referred to as Vera that supplied entry to UMG’s music catalog for individuals with dementia.
In September final 12 months, the corporate introduced a “music-centric” wellness app named Sollos, which, in keeping with UMG, makes use of “cognitive science and proprietary audio expertise to assist focus, rest, and sleep.”
Additionally in 2023, Common teamed up with generative AI sound wellness startup Endel to create what they name “AI-powered, artist-driven useful music” (e.g. music for sleep, operating, rest and so forth).
And now, MBW has unearthed a current patent utility from Common that describes expertise that would considerably affect the wellness house.
The submitting, titled, ‘Producing tonally appropriate, synchronized neural beats for digital audio information‘ describes what UMG calls “new and modern methods and strategies for producing and including neural beats to current audio tracks”.
As defined by Common within the utility, neural beats, performed at sure frequencies, might “embody any audio beat designed to provide or encourage a desired psychological state in a consumer”.
Such “desired psychological states” might embody “neural entrainment, improved focus, a calmer temper, rest, or every other desired psychological state”.
Neural entrainment happens when your mind waves sync up with a repeating sample, for instance a beat in music, which research present can assist to enhance your focus, reminiscence and creativity and cut back stress.
Common notes that neural beats might embody both monaural or binaural beats “that mix a decrease beat frequency with the next provider frequency”.
In keeping with the patent submitting, the ‘beat frequency’ “could also be chosen primarily based on a desired psychological state (e.g., the place completely different frequencies foster several types of psychological states in people)” and “the beat frequency could also be at a decrease frequency than people can detect and/or could also be on the decrease vary of human listening to”.
The appliance seems to have been submitted by Common Worldwide Music B.V. in a number of markets, together with the US, Canada, and Australia. The appliance is pending in all three markets and particulars of the submitting had been most just lately printed in Australia in April.
The inventor of Common’s neural beats expertise is Elio Quinton, who, in keeping with LinkedIn, is VP of Synthetic Intelligence at Common Music Group.
Quinton’s bio on GitHub states that he based and led Common’s Music & Audio Machine Studying Lab (MAML), which is claimed to be the first-ever Machine Studying R&D group within the report business.
In keeping with the patent utility, the tech works by analyzing “the pitch traits of a digital audio file over time.”
This info might then be used to pick “a provider frequency” for a neural beat to be added to an audio file.
The submitting explains: “For instance, dominant pitch courses could also be extracted from the chromagram options at varied timestamps inside the digital audio file and the dominant pitch courses could also be used to pick provider frequencies for the neural beat on the varied timestamps”.
Common’s patent utility, which you’ll be able to learn in full right here, explains additional that the neural beat might then “be synthesized primarily based on the beat frequency and the chosen provider frequencies and saved for later use”.
It provides that “in sure situations, a mixed audio observe could also be generated that mixes the digital audio file with the neural beat” and “in different situations, the neural beat could also be saved in affiliation with the digital audio file”.
The submitting continues: “Moreover, in sure situations, the neural beat and/or mixed audio observe could also be generated in actual time as a consumer gadget streams the digital audio file, reminiscent of by a server from which the digital audio file is streamed or by a consumer gadget receiving the streamed digital audio file.
“The neural beat might then be performed alongside the digital audio file (e.g., as separate audio information performed concurrently and/or as a single audio file) by way of the consumer gadget.”
The patent explains that the “positions for the rhythmic beats inside the digital audio file could also be estimated utilizing a machine studying mannequin, reminiscent of a pre-trained community configured to detect rhythmic beats inside audio information”.
On the root of Common’s invention is a method to mechanically generate and add neural beats to current music.
By doing so, Common says that customers of the tech can “hearken to their most well-liked tracks or music genres whereas additionally experiencing the advantages of neural entrainment, rest, and/or improved focus supplied by neural beats”.
May that imply that Common is planning so as to add binaural or monaural beats to widespread music (e.g. from the likes of Billie Eilish or the Weeknd) for wellness functions? If that’s the plan, it could be a game-changing improvement on this house.
Numerous the binaural beats playlists which might be obtainable on Spotify at current seem like stuffed with useful (and sometimes droning) tracks particularly produced for rest, focus or sleep, and so forth.
In keeping with Common’s submitting: “Not all customers get pleasure from listening to audio tracks that solely comprise neural beats, and will discover them boring or distracting, limiting the consequences of neural entrainment.
“Moreover, the restricted availability of current audio tracks that embody embedded monaural beats might not attraction to all customers. Sure methods might mechanically generate music that includes monaural beats to stop customers from having to hearken to the identical observe a number of occasions.”
“There exists a must mechanically add neural beats to current audio tracks such that customers might hearken to their most well-liked tracks or music genres whereas additionally experiencing the advantages of neural entrainment, rest, and/or improved focus supplied by neural beats.”
Common Music patent utility
The submitting provides: “Nevertheless, such methods nonetheless can not appropriate for the likelihood {that a} consumer will wish to hearken to a particular observe or style that has not been beforehand mixed with neural beats.
“Due to this fact, there exists a must mechanically add neural beats to current audio tracks such that customers might hearken to their most well-liked tracks or music genres whereas additionally experiencing the advantages of neural entrainment, rest, and/or improved focus supplied by neural beats.”
A ultimate thought of this patent utility is that this expertise might be utilized in UMG’s forthcoming “music-centric wellness app” Sollos, which the corporate stated in September “makes use of cognitive science and proprietary audio expertise to assist focus, rest and sleep”.
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