{"id":64573,"date":"2025-10-09T22:39:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/64573\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T22:39:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T22:39:13","slug":"coldplays-drummer-talks-ai-creativity-and-musics-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/64573\/","title":{"rendered":"Coldplay\u2019s Drummer Talks AI, Creativity, and Music\u2019s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON \u2014 Coldplay would not have tasted global stardom in the current algorithm age, the band\u2019s drummer told students at Northeastern University.<\/p>\n

Will Champion said the music business is \u201cunrecognizable\u201d from the one the indie-rock superstars, who met while at university in London, first encountered in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

The musician, whose daughter studies at Northeastern, said he remembers the investment put in by a record label in the hopes that Coldplay \u201cmight be good one day, as opposed to now, where you can\u2019t do anything without being a fully finished product.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s quite hard [today],\u201d he continued. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have got anywhere near where we are now if we were starting now.
\u201cWe were very unhealthy looking, badly dressed, scruffy students \u2014 the algorithm would have squeezed us out very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Will10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"A10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"Will10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University
\nColdplay drummer Will Champion spoke about AI and music as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

Champion was speaking as part of a new series<\/a> called \u201cIntersections\u201d taking place on the London campus, offering students the chance to hear industry stories from prominent members of the Northeastern network.<\/p>\n

The band member, recalling how he was the \u201clast possible viable option\u201d to play drums when Coldplay were first recording a demo during college, was reluctant to try to offer sage advice as \u201cwe had so many things that went our way by chance\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he encouraged the students to be resilient, adaptable and communicative when pursuing their aspirations. \u201cI think those are the things that have helped us to get where we are,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Diane MacGillivray<\/a>, senior vice president for university advancement, when introducing Champion, listed his achievements with Coldplay, including selling more than 100 million records and winning seven Grammys.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut my guess is that one of the things that you are most proud of, and the reason you agreed to be here tonight, is your title of \u2018Dad\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery much so,\u201d replied Champion, a father of three.<\/p>\n

\"Will10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"An10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"President10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

\"Will10\/09\/25 \u2013 London, UK \u2013 Coldplay dummer Will Champion spoke with Northeastern students about AI at London\u2019s Devon House as part of a new series called Intersections on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University
\nColdplay drummer Will Champion, whose daughter studies at Northeastern, speaks to students. At left is Diane MacGillivray, senior vice president for university advancement. Photo by David Tett for Northeastern University<\/p>\n

During the evening \u2014 chaired by both MacGillivray and Calypso Newman<\/a>, a graduate and founder of art sustainability agency Rock Badger \u2014 Champion opened up about Coldplay\u2019s Music Of The Spheres<\/a> tour and its sustainability drive.<\/p>\n

The record-breaking tour, which has become the most-attended tour of all time<\/a> with 13 million tickets sold, has placed environmental sustainability at its heart, having cut emissions by 59% since Coldplay\u2019s last global gigging cycle.<\/p>\n

Fans are able to produce renewable energy that powers the stadium shows and the LED wristbands worn by the crowd are re-used. Attendees can also use an app to arrange car shares.<\/p>\n

Champion explained to the Devon House audience, which included Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun, that it was the current way of consuming music through algorithm-based streaming platforms that made the British act \u2014 completed by frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman \u2014 want to focus on delivering a memorable live experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has never been easier to find bands and to discover new music, which is wonderful, \u2026 but at the same time, breaking through that level of noise is so difficult,\u201d Champion said. \u201cWhat we have noticed is that getting anything to stick is very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled how Canadian singer Bryan Adams remained at the number one spot on the U.K. singles chart in 1991 for 16 weeks with the song \u201c(Everything I Do) I Do It For You.\u201d It remains the longest unbroken streak<\/a> spent in the top spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t shift him off the top,\u201d said Champion. \u201cNow, things just disappear. We\u2019re so interested in wanting the next thing that I think it\u2019s really hard to get things that sustain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why touring has been really important for us because creating those memories of real people connecting with each other in stadiums like that \u2014 that is a memory that isn\u2019t easily replaceable. You can\u2019t just swipe if you don\u2019t like it. It\u2019s a commitment to something really meaningful.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for us, it has changed in that we really rely on our live show to create lasting connections with people, whereas it is harder to do that with just recorded music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 47-year-old, who called London the best city in the world for live music, said painstaking work had gone into ensuring every part of their tour operation had been evaluated to ensure it was as sustainable as possible. The key to that, while pushing for all aspects to be less carbon-intensive, was to keep ticket prices cheaper than other acts and ensure their sustainability changes contributed to \u201cmore people having fun\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think that\u2019s ultimately what it\u2019s all about,\u201d Champion added.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Coldplay was one of a host of major acts, including Paul McCartney and Dua Lipa, to lobby the U.K. government over concerns about proposed copyright changes<\/a> that the artists argued could put their works at risk from generative AI.<\/p>\n

The band has used AI for fan film initiatives<\/a>, Champion said, but stressed that musical creation needed protection from technological overreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in how AI affects our business very much,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is also quite contentious in the way that lots of these large language models learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see that there are amazing applications for AI in music. I just think, it\u2019s such a new technology and especially in our business, there\u2019s a lot of very careful thought that needs to happen about how we create and how we protect human creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the question-and-answer session on Thursday, one student attendee proposed two questions to Champion, saying he could pick which one he would prefer to answer. The first was on whether AI could make music in the same way as humans, while the other asked which actor he would like to see play him in a potential biopic film about Coldplay.<\/p>\n

Champion replied that he didn\u2019t feel he had the \u201cmental acuity\u201d for the AI question but was upfront about the second.<\/p>\n

\u201cGosh, I mean \u2018generic, bald guy with beard.\u2019 \u2026 Let\u2019s go for Jason Statham,\u201d he replied. \u201cI think he would make a good drummer.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a sea of hands still in the air as the talk drew to a close, Champion eschewed any sense of rock star ego and stayed at the front of a long line of students, answering more questions and posing for selfies with delighted fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON \u2014 Coldplay would not have tasted global stardom in the current algorithm age, the band\u2019s drummer told…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[345,343,146,85,46,442,409,47167],"class_list":["post-64573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-london","tag-music","tag-rock-n-roll"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}