The Second International Conference in AI Music Studies

Conference Highlights

Aims 2026 conference - The University of Nottingham


Department of Music and the Mixed Reality Lab, School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham present
The Second International Conference in AI Music Studies: Inside the Music: Prospects, Challenges and Methodologies of Studying AI Music in the Humanities and Social Sciences30th March - 1st April 2026Nottingham UKhttps://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/i2mt/events/aims-2026-conference.aspx
Building on the success of the First International Conference in AI Music Studies at Stockholm in 2024, this conference will continue the theme but with a tilt towards expanding the discourse from inside musicking (Small 1989). Because of this we are still interested in "AI music" (music generated by or with artificial intelligence technologies) and its incorporation in established music ecosystems. While only a few years ago such music was “on the fringe”, it is quickly becoming more present and moving into the mainstream due in large part to the commercial exploitability of the technology, what it produces for what it costs, and its growing public accessibility (complete with claims of "democratizing" music production and composition). The development and application of AI to music creation is attracting significant sums of money from private circles, not to mention considerable efforts in academic engineering circles; yet, perhaps with the exception of intellectual property (e.g., legal ownership) and ethics (e.g., responsible use), many topics of AI music remain by and large under-explored by critical examination and reflection in the humanities and social sciences. This motivates several key questions for critical analysis and reflection:1. How do we communicate and discuss the insider knowledge that is generated through interacting, relating, and co-creating in/with/through/because of AI music ecosystems?
2. How can the AI music ecosystem and its components be formally studied, and what considerations must be made to make sense of it?
3. What challenges arise in the application of established disciplines, such as musicology or ethnomusicology?