The AI Summit London, one of the world’s most influential events at the intersection of technology and creativity, celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. At this landmark gathering, Snow Jiang, Founder and CEO of acclaimed record label Cheerful Music, together with UK office A&R Manager Sergio Veloz and hit producer He Zhu, joined a panel discussion exploring the topic: “Can AI Make Human Music More Valuable?“.
The session explored how AI is reshaping the music industry and why human creativity, emotion, and cultural understanding are becoming more valuable than ever. Cheerful Music’s panelists shared how AI can improve efficiency while artists remain the key to meaningful audience connections and cultural impact.
As the visionary Founder and CEO of Cheerful Music, Snow Jiang balances her roles as a professional singer-songwriter and the central figure of a celebrated Harvard Business School case study. This academic recognition led to multiple invitations to the institution, where she engaged with students from over 80 nations to share the strategic evolution and hit-making logic of Cheerful Music. Over the past year, Snow Jiang has shared her expertise at leading global events, including Harvard Business School, Amsterdam Dance Event, The Great Escape, and most recently at SXSW.
A&R Manager at Cheerful Music, Sergio Veloz, shared, “At Cheerful Music, we see AI as a tool that expands creative opportunity rather than replaces artistic value. As technology lowers the barriers to music production, the conversation is shifting from who can create to who can truly connect. Music in the AI era is not competing on volume alone but on emotional resonance, cultural relevance and audience understanding. Human creativity remains the driving force behind great music because people connect with stories, experiences and identity.”
Image credit: Shuo
Rain Couldn’t Stop the Excitement: Virtual Artist Lynn (灵玥) Captivates the Audience
Despite the rainy London weather, the enthusiasm surrounding the fusion of technology and music remained stronger than ever. During Cheerful Music‘s presentation, promotional videos featuring its AI virtual artist Lynn (灵玥) attracted significant attention from attendees. The combination of cutting-edge AI technology and creative storytelling drew crowds to the session.
When Lynn’s image appeared on the main screen, the audience immediately took photos and searched for her on Instagram. The response highlighted the overseas market’s strong interest in and recognition of Cheerful Music’s exploration of AI-driven digital initiatives.
AI Voices Meet Human Songwriting: How Did “RED” Reach 210 Million Views?
During the session, Cheerful Music highlighted one of the key challenges emerging in the AI era: an explosion of content production often accompanied by declining creative quality. The company presented its philosophy of “combining technology with human taste” as a solution.
As the first major cross-generational success of Cheerful Music’s AI Artist Program, virtual artist Lynn (灵玥) has established a complete commercial model. The project combines carefully selected AI-trained vocals with songs written entirely by human songwriters, ensuring emotional depth and artistic authenticity.
Following its release, Lynn’s hit song “RED“ generated over 210 million views on short-form video platforms and charted on multiple influential music rankings.
Looking ahead, Cheerful Music plans to introduce additional virtual artist IPs, including the mysterious and fashion-forward YAN (炎昭) and the healing, family-friendly character PeanutsJack (花生杰克), further expanding its virtual artist ecosystem.
Cross-Industry Perspectives Perspectives Beyond Music
One particularly notable aspect of the session was that most of the audience questions came from attendees outside the music industry.
These cross-industry perspectives brought fresh insights into the discussion surrounding AI and music, while also providing valuable inspiration for Cheerful Music’s future global expansion in the AI sector.
Image credit: Shuo
Highlights from the Live Q&A Session
Q1: 「Copyright Ownership」What copyright challenges exist for fully AI-generated music?
Snow. J:
We must acknowledge that fully AI-generated music currently faces significant legal uncertainty regarding copyright ownership. However, Cheerful Music takes a different approach. We do not create one-click AI generated music. Every song we release is written by human songwriters, ensuring genuine creativity remains at the core of the music.
Q2: 「Human-AI Collaboration Workflow」How does AI collaborate with humans during the creative process?
Snow. J:
As demonstrated in our presentation, our hit producer He Zhu uses AI primarily as a supporting tool to improve efficiency.
For example, with our virtual artist Lynn (灵玥), the vocal model is trained using AI on multiple licensed human voices, creating a highly distinctive vocal identity first. AI then assists in generating complete recordings more efficiently. We place great importance on copyright compliance, and every voice used for training has been properly legal licensed by the human artists.
Image credit: Shuo
Q3: 「Distribution and Marketing Strategy」When promoting virtual artist IPs, do Cheerful Music focus more on algorithms or genuine audience engagement?
Snow. J:
For virtual artists such as Lynn (灵玥) and PeanutsJack (花生杰克), we did not prioritise streaming platforms through promotion strategies. Instead, our core approach is to use short-form video and social media platforms as bridges that connect virtual characters with real audiences, ultimately creating authentic emotional connections through music.
Q4: 「Voice Licensing Framework」How does Cheerful Music obtain human voice rights for AI training?
Snow. J:
We follow a highly responsible and transparent licensing framework. All participating artists sign paid licensing agreements granting us permission to use their voices within clearly defined terms. These agreements are not permanent buyouts but structured partnerships that respect artists’ rights.
Image credit: Shuo
Q5: 「Business Model & Monetization Strategy」What are Cheerful Music’s primary business model and revenue streams?
Snow. J:
Our business model is diversified and straightforward. Revenue comes from music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and major Chinese streaming services. In addition, we generate income through sync licensing opportunities, including television programs, retail background music, advertising campaigns, and other commercial uses.
Simply put, wherever music is heard publicly, music rights management plays an important role.
Q6: 「Balancing Data-Driven Insights and Artistic Originality」How Can We Ensure AI Remains a Collaborative Tool Rather Than a “Shortcut” to Virality?
Snow. J:
Today, major streaming platforms have sophisticated systems for identifying AI-generated content. Low-quality or purely automated creations are increasingly easy to detect and label.
We fully recognise that the rapid rise of AI has, to some extent, impacted the rights and interests of traditional artists. As we embrace the opportunities of the AI era, Cheerful Music established strict bottom line: no commercial AI training without the explicit consent of artists. We use data and algorithms to improve efficiency and better understand audiences, but never at the cost of artistic originality or the rights of creators.
Follow Cheerful Music:
