ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus says AI is “such a great tool” and is writing a musical with it

ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus has revealed he is writing a new musical using AI, which he believes is “such a great tool”.

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The songwriter discussed the project during a talk at London’s edition of SXSW today (June 4), which is taking place across Shoreditch this week. He also noted that he was “three quarters” of the way through writing the follow-up to the Swedish legends’ hologram-based ‘ABBA Voyage’ concert series.

“It is such a great tool. It is like having another songwriter in the room with a huge reference frame,” he said. “It is really an extension of your mind. You have access to things that you didn’t think of before.”

Ulvaeus also discussed the technology’s current limitations, saying that it is “lousy at [writing a whole song]” and “very bad at lyrics.” He said he believed its most useful application was to help artists to overcome writer’s block.

“You can prompt a lyric you have written about something, and you’re stuck maybe, and you want this song to be in a certain style,” he explained. “You can ask it, how would you extend? Where would you go from here? It usually comes out with garbage, but sometimes there is something in it that gives you another idea.”

Previously, Ulvaeus warned of the “existential challenge” AI presented to the music industry.

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In 2023, his foreword to a report relating to royalty collections in the era read: “This year’s results show that the collective management system, despite all the enormous challenges it faces in adapting to digital, is still robust and effective. CMOs (collective management organisations) have the backs of the creators they serve and are now delivering more money to more creators than ever before.

Ulvaeus is the president of CISAC, a non-profit organisation that represents songwriters and composers around the world, collecting and paying royalties to its members whose music has been used in broadcasts, concerts, bars and on streaming services. The organisation has produced reports in the past on the issues regarding AI use in music. Most recently, one of their studies suggested that music creators could lose nearly a quarter of their income to AI by 2028.

Meanwhile, ABBA has just celebrated the third anniversary of their ‘Voyage’ show by introducing new songs to the setlist and hosting a VIP party that saw a special performance from Benny Andersson, Elbow‘s Guy Garvey and Elvis Costello.

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