03/02/2025

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Chalamet is odds-on favourite to win the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Dylan. – PIC FROM FACEBOOK @ACOMPLETEUNKNOWN

Mythical status o Folk-rock legend behind recent Oscar-nominated biopic (From left) Joan Baez has helped launch Dylan’s career. – PICS FROM FACEBOOK @BOBDYLAN Ű BY R.BALA

MUSIC streaming site Deezer has revealed one in 10 tracks uploaded to the streaming service each day is either fake or just noise created by artificial intelligence (AI) programmes. The company’s fraud detection technologies, rolled out in 2023, discovered around 10,000 tracks, completely generated by AI, are uploaded to the platform every day, representing around 10% of the total, the Paris-based firm said. The success of its technologies, which can identify AI content without the need for extensive training on specific databases, had led it to seek last month two patents. Deezer said it aims to better pay genuine musicians by weeding out fake songs that are streamed by fraudulent accounts created in order to remunerate the “artistes”. Many fake tracks can clone the voices of existing artistes, which currently cannot be copyrighted, or copycat popular songs. Deezer is now focusing on a system to label AI-generated content that would be excluded from its recommended listening lists. “AI is continuing to disrupt the music ecosystem more and more,” CEO Alexis Lanternier said. Deezer said in January it would tweak its remuneration model in an effort to better pay artistes whose songs get fewer downloads but have a more diverse base of listeners. – AFP T HERE is substantial Oscar buzz surrounding A Complete Unknown , not least the performance of Timothee Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan. His acting chops not only extended to his getting Dylan’s speech and many other nuances spot on but also learning to sing in that unique Bobster croak as well as playing guitar the way Dylan does. So his Oscar nomination for Best Actor, alongside seven others for the biopic, is well deserved. Dylan himself has remarked that Chalamet is a “damn talented actor”. But, just who is the man born Robert Zimmerman and what is the legend behind the hype? Here are a few choice nuggets to pique your interest and make you sound like a complete Dylanologist. Not first film This is not a the first film on Dylan with

documentaries aplenty, not least Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story (2009) by famed director Martin Scorcese. There was also unique take by director Todd Haynes, I’m Not There (2007), which had no less than six thespians play Dylan, including actress Cate Blanchett. Recognition from academia Dylan is famed for his lyrical ability, crafting songs whose words hold deep and profound meaning, resonating with generations of music fans. His lyrics go beyond the “la la la I love you variety” and is treated with the reverence often associated with poets and literary giants. This is reflected in the number of universities that offer studies on the

subject. of Cambridge’s “Bob Dylan’s Lyrics: a Literary Exploration” and the University of Tulsa’s Institute of Bob Dylan Studies. Honours galore On May 29, 2012, Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, US’s highest civilian honour, from President Barack Obama. No biggie then as Dylan has received numerous honorary titles and doctorates including being the first musician to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. How is that for category busting? Die with your boots on Despite being 83 years old, Dylan shows no signs of slowing down, continuing to produce new music with his last album Rough and Ready released in 2020. Incredibly, he continues to be active on the live circuit and has just announced tour dates for 2025! You get the feeling that Dylan will keep on rolling till the very end as the life of a working musician is all he has ever known (though he has also dabbled as an author and actor). Career highlights Take your pick. With a recording career stretching back to 1962 when he released his eponymus debut, there have been 40 studio albums, 21 live albums, 17 volumes of The Bootleg Series , 44 compilation albums and contributions to various soundtracks. Highlights include Blood on the Tracks (1975), Slow Train Coming (1979) and Time Out of Mind (1997). The film’s title refers to a line off the track Like a Rolling Stone , from the seminal long player Highway 61 Re-visited (1965) Live in KL It is very unlikely Malaysian audiences will see Dylan on his latest trek but once upon a time, in 1994 to be exact, a few thousand were privy to that experience at the Putra World Trade Centre. Dylan’s concert in KL was part of his Never Ending Tour and many saw him belt out classics such as All Along the Watchtower and Jokerman . In the meantime, enjoy the film and hopefully it will inspire you to dive headlong into the huge pit of Dylan docus, tomes and tunes. This include University

Dylan has received the Presidential Medal of Honour in 2012.

AI generating one song in 10 on Deezer

Deezer is now focusing on a system to label AI-generated content that would be excluded from its recommended listening lists. – AFPPIC