Eden Golan’s managers deploy AI to help writers produce hit songs

As music entrepreneur Oudi Antebi worked on his startup’s latest iteration of songs created with artificial intelligence, he had thought his days of managing performing artists were over.

But Session 42, Antebi’s music company, made one exception: Eden Golan, the 20-year-old singer who starred in the 2024 Eurovision in May, and who had been discovered by one of Antebi’s partners while scrolling through Instagram.

“Our minds were blown” by Golan, said Antebi, as they marveled at the then-18-year-old’s ability to sing, dance and hold an audience’s attention. “There aren’t many Eden Golans in Israel, or anywhere else, for that matter,” he said.

Following the October 7 Hamas onslaught, the Session 42 team pushed through their pain and sorrow, managing to bring Golan and her song, “Hurricane,” to the 2024 Eurovision in Malmo, Sweden, where she finished in fifth place.

“I never believed I’d be in the center of this hurricane of what happened around this song,” said Antebi, whose studio also worked with Noa Kirel on her 2023 Eurovision hit, “Unicorn,” which placed third. “It’s fortunate that Eden is so strong, she’s now the hero of the Jewish tribe around the world.”

Golan is now the only performing artist under Session 42’s management, as the team focuses on its latest creation: using artificial intelligence to help musicians virtually produce songs.

The music production company specializes in using AI technology and data analysis to create songs, including the 2023 duet “Here Forever,” (“Kan Le’Olam”) sung by long-deceased singers Ofra Haza and Zohar Argov for Israel’s 75th Independence Day.

“Since we launched the Ofra-Zohar song, it got our wheels spinning,” said Antebi. “Our DNA is taking a raw song and turning it into a hit.”

Antebi and his Session 42 partners are banking on the fact that the world is full of budding songwriters, many of whom don’t have the budget or ability to find a producer to work with them on what they hope will be their hit song.

Their plan is to offer HitCraft, Session 42’s AI song production platform, to ease the way toward honing and editing a song that can sweep the global stage.

Songwriters can upload a song to HitCraft, choose from a selection of styles like country or pop, R&B or rock ‘n roll, and add instrument sounds, such as bass or drums.

What used to take days now takes seconds, said Antebi.

Antebi describes the entire experience as an interaction that mimics working one-on-one with a producer.

“You bring your baby, your song, and you share and explain it,” he said.

That sharing takes place through an online chat, followed by an AI editing process. Then the final results are sent to the songwriter, who can download their song for further tweaking.

“It makes it very accessible,” said Antebi. “If you’re an amateur musician, it’s harder to find a producer and if you do, you’re not about to pay $10,000 to produce your one song.”

Musician and producer Roy Machluf said he was initially skeptical about HitCraft, certain that AI wouldn’t work in music production, where “you need that personal touch,” he said. “You still need soul in creating music.”

Machluf said, however, that he immediately saw how music could be edited and altered with the touch of a button.

“It lit me up, because instead of three hours to explain how a song would sound in metal or R&B or rock, I just plugged it in and it was [amazing],” said Machluf.

HitCraft is being launched this fall, allowing musicians to download the software for $10 to $50, depending on which type of subscription they choose.

As for Eden Golan, Antebi hopes she’ll consider HitCraft software in the future.

“She knows she’s part of this thing,” he said. “She gives feedback and in the future, there might be some surprises with her songs that could have started with HitCraft.”