(Image courtesy of Forbes) “AI-generated music is tearing up the industry.”
Ryan Valin
Connector Staff
The questioning of artistic integrity in the music industry continues to increase as technology ceaselessly advances. The latest advancement has been the recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI). The boundaries of AI softwares are being tested more than ever now, and society is finding new uses for it everyday. Thus, people have found ways to work AI into the making of music, which has made for a complex and controversial subject-matter in the industry. Some artists have started using programs for assistance in parts of the creation process, like songwriting or mixing and mastering. But also, anyone can now use these AI softwares to generate songs automatically, with little input. So as technology progresses, how will AI-generated music interfere with music made by humans?
Artists tend to be very serious about their songwriting process as a form of personal expression. It is an intimate, creative process with oneself or with others when collaborating. So many musicians are staying away from AI, as they feel it interferes with natural expression. But do listeners feel the same? People vary greatly with how mentally invested they are when listening to music, but passionate and even moderate listeners tend to appreciate the artist behind music. Many find interest in the online presence of creators, trying to get a peek into their lives. This is also why the most commercially successful musicians are also some of the most famous people in the world. Even if some avid listeners don’t keep up with social media, most still feel a connection through the music and to the artist. People find comfort in knowing that passion, creativity, and soul went into a song or an album.
But, what if that aspect of music gets taken away? Well, it appears to many that rappers Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign used AI filters to generate vocals on their collaborative album, “Vultures 2,” that was released in summer 2024. Most of these accusations came West’s way, and it has neither been confirmed or denied. But it seems it may be true as he recently announced AI will play a role on his next individual album, “Bully.” Arguably more importantly was the reaction of listeners, as fans of the two artists voiced their disappointment in the potential laziness. But contradictorily, the songs have performed pretty well, with one of the highly accused tracks, “Field Trip,” being one of Ty Dolla $ign’s most popular songs on Spotify at the moment.
With this information, it seems like it could be difficult for a person to build a music career off of AI-generated music. With no foundation, and having to prove worthy content to the world, the usage could come across as insincere and lazy, unless future generations become accustomed to it. After all, the present younger generations don’t take issue with Auto-Tune, whereas older generations do. However, on the flip side of a new career, an established artist may be able to incorporate AI in many facets while still maintaining success, as Kanye West showed. But the impact of these softwares could also depend on the genre of music as well. Some genres don’t have intimate lyrics, or any lyrics at all, which already creates dissonance from the artist. Other genres, like EDM or Lo-Fi, profit from being played as background music.
Moving beyond that, there are some serious concerns about the logistics behind how AI-generated music is created. Furthermore, how it all could impact the corporate side of the music industry. Corporate record labels are already cautious about the growth of the independent artist scene. Small musicians now have social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to market music on their own. But if there are no restrictions on AI-generated music, all of the major record labels as we know them could be wiped out. If everyone could craft music from accessible software, then the only market would be people who don’t take the time to generate their own music. People may curate and share the best AI results they have gotten with each other over social media. Maybe people would build a music business that way, charging people for their best AI results. But that begs the question of whether or not this could all even be legal. Could people copyright a song that they didn’t create? On an even more basic level, is generating music from songs that already exist a copyright issue? These programs are created by feeding the AI softwares music created by human artists so that they can mimic it. This issue is starting to be discussed and many major musicians are protesting.
The regulation of artificial intelligence in music will likely be some intermediate position where it is not totally abolished, but is also restricted. It will be very interesting, and it could all sound concerning, but everything grows and changes with time. AI is still very young, so there are infinite uncertainties. There will always be creative people and passionate listeners, but there is no doubt that artificial intelligence will change how music is made, distributed, and listened to.
