Runway announced a partnership with Italian music technology company Musixmatch. The latter provides device-side real-time synchronized lyrics services for platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Facebook, Instagram, Tidal, and Vevo.
This collaboration will allow over 1 million musicians and artists who use Musixmatch to access Runway's latest and most powerful AI video generation model, Gen-2. This model has been gradually upgraded with features such as multi-action brushes and region selectors.
Runway states that the purpose of this partnership is to "allow creators to present their songs in a vivid form that aligns with their creative vision through dynamic video content on a large scale."
In other words, musicians can now use Gen-2 to generate AI videos synchronized with their song lyrics and then sync these videos with their songs using Musixmatch's platform, speeding up the production of "lyric videos." Lyric videos are a popular type of video that displays song lyrics in a way that matches the music rhythm, with environmental visuals as the background, rather than showcasing artists, bands, or characters like full-length music videos.
According to a Runway spokesperson via email, while users can prompt Gen-2 with text or images, the "lyrics-to-video" feature will understand the artist's lyrics to simplify the generation and prompting process.
However, this feature is only available to artists subscribed to Musixmatch Pro, with prices starting at $2.99 per month (billed annually at $36). Users do not need a Runway account or pay a separate subscription fee for Runway—the new feature will be directly available within Musixmatch Pro, as stated by a Runway spokesperson via email. After generating the video, users can download or publish it on other platforms, such as their social media accounts.
Some artists, including the Atlanta-based psychedelic hip-hop duo Earthgang, have already gained access to Gen-2 through Musixmatch to create lyric videos for their song "Osmosis" using Runway's AI and Musixmatch's lyrics synchronization software.
A perfect combination for music enthusiasts?
Runway CEO Cristobal Valenzuela stated in a press release, "We are excited to directly hand over Runway's models and creative experience to the unique artist and musician community of Musixmatch. Runway's models and tools will help these artists expand the ways they express their creative visions through video and establish deeper connections with audiences and viewers worldwide."
"We are witnessing a new kind of creativity brought by artificial intelligence, in short, 'out of the ordinary,'" said Marco Paglia, Product Manager at Musixmatch, alluding to Apple's famous slogan. "Today, our talented composers and musicians have a new assistant when making videos, which is supported by Musixmatch's ability to extract the meaning of lyrics and Runway's top-notch video generation models. This will enable more music creators to produce videos and drive continuous innovation in this field. If this is just the first day, I can't wait to see what the future holds."
A Runway spokesperson mentioned that the collaboration between the two companies is "mutually interested," and they did not share data used for AI training as part of this partnership. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Renowned artists have already used AI with varying results.
Many well-known artists, including A$AP Rocky, Madonna, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), and Jared Leto's rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, have used AI video generation programs—sometimes using Runway itself—in creating music videos or concert background videos.
Additionally, rapper Nicki Minaj interacted with users on X by using AI-generated static images to promote her album "Pink Friday 2."
Evidently, some notable figures in the music industry have begun adopting AI to provide visual effects for their music, and Runway has wisely made this process easier through its latest collaboration.
