T-Pain Sues Inventors of Auto-tune

But autotune isn't quite dead yet. The R&B singer wants to promote his own, autotune-like product.

By Jamilah King Jul 28, 2011

Love it or hate it, auto-tune has changed the way we listen to popular music. The digital audio effect has allowed artists to synthesize their singing voices. Some, like Kanye West on his album "808s and Heartbreak", have embraced it. Others, like Jay-Z, have jokingly derided it. But it’s R&B singer T-Pain whose widely credited with popularizing it, and defending the effect in good humor. But now, T-Pain is suing auto-tune’s inventor in an effort to put more attention on his own product:

The Hollywood Reporter has more:

For years, T-Pain and Antares enjoyed a fruitful business relationship that gave modern singing a synthetic shine and drove vocal purists absolutely nuts. But T-Pain has partnered with a new company, Izotope, and intends to promote his own voice-manipulation product called "The T-Pain Effect." 

The singer has recently tried to distance himself from the product, though the company still uses his name, likeness, and voice in promoting it. Of course, all of that seems obvious, since T-Pain’s career has largely rested on his use of the product. But as he works to break out on his own, he’s leaving auto-tune in the dust. It doesn’t seem likely that fans will be able to the same any time soon.