Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

The future is...

Music has always been something I've enjoyed.

Like most teenagers, an unreasonably large chunk of my spare cash went into buying albums -- on vinyl or casset tapes (remember those?).

These days, most people simply use an internet-based streaming service to source their music and the concept of "ownership" is quickly being relegated to the history books (remember books?).

Fortunately, before they faded into obscurity, I managed to amass a good collection of music on CD and I've ripped most of that to MP3 files which means my entire library now fits on a tiny thumb-drive or microSD card.

Regardless of how you obtain it, music remains an important part of most people's lives -- whether it's the latest tracks from contemporary pop artists or the majestic works of the classic composers.

However, right now we're on the edge of the single largest change to the music industry we have ever seen.

I'm talking about music created by AI.

I've noticed a growing number of YouTubers now have "theme songs" associated with their work and these tunes are pretty impressive.

How can a lowly YouTuber afford to have a song written and performed to professional standards, simply to add to their online branding?

Well they can't -- and they don't have to.

There are now a growing number of online services that will automatically generate music on-demand, driven by simple text queries.

Generative AI has come to the music industry.

Watch this video by US-based music critic and performer Rick Beato

Listening to some of the AI-produced tracks that Rick features makes it very clear just how far generative AI created music has come.

It's good. It's very good.

I can't help but get the feeling that the sharks who run the music industry are already making big plans to ditch "talent" in favour of AI.

Why share royalties with some spotty-faced teen who has become the latest one-hit-wonder when instead, you could simply have your computer churn out hit after hit, almost for free?

"But wait", I hear some of you saying. "AI generated content can't be copyrighted so people could pirate that AI-generated music with impunity, how would the studios make any money?"

Well these guys aren't stupid. All they have to do is have the AI create the music and then have a single, solitary session musicion play some kind of minor accompanyment and suddenly the whole thing can legitimately be copyrighted.

If I was an up and coming musician or someone with aspirations to make a living out of my music or singing talents, I'd be worried right now. In the brave new world of AI, you have no place.

Yet another job taken by AI.

However, we need to look at the bigger picture and that raises some significant concerns.

Since generative AI is based on the material from which it was trained, if the music industry switches largely to this form of music creation, things will stagnate -- badly.

Without the innovation and creativity of "real humans", the evolution of music could hit a barrier, if we rely too heavily on generative AI for our "tunes".

In the meantime, I'm wondering how long it will be before the first AI tune tops the charts. When that happens, and nobody's making any significant money from it, the music industry will be scrambling to retain its relevance.

Carpe Diem folks!

Please visit the sponsor!

PERMALINK to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font