This short Instagram reel from Kristin who writes for Billboard has a good overview of how this can impact music - streaming is one of the biggest concerns as it dilutes the money genuine artists get
Worth noting that there have been arrests for use of AI (this was more for fake listeners)
There’s a lot about topics related to this in Liz Pelly’s brilliant book about Spotify called Mood Machine. An excerpt from it here
With over 371,700 creates on TikTok, 819,745 streams on Spotify, 161,000 views on YouTube, “A Million Colors” sounds so realistic that it has fooled a number of unsuspecting users. One of the most popular celebrities on the platform, Kylie Jenner , recently posted a makeup tutorial with the AI-generated song in the background, earning her 1.5 million likes.
Deezer revealed in April that AI-generated music now represents 18% of all uploads to its platform, or 20,000 tracks per day. The company said it was removing all fully AI-generated content from its algorithmic recommendations. Deezer has more than 10 million subscribers worldwide, while market leader Spotify has 268 million.
In the 80s, folks were scared that synthesisers would destroy music. They didn’t and instead unleashed a wave of wonder.
Yet today feels different. I listened to the entire The Velvet Sundown - Dust and Silence album. My brain was tricked. I genuinely felt sick. This is a turning point.
I can’t be the only person who feels like lobbying for album artwork to now include the equivalent of a parental advisory sticker.
ADVISORY 100% AI-GENERATED.
Yes, of course, musicians are using tech to create/enhance/support their craft. I get that.
Yet this feels different. There needs to a line drawn between human created albums and full AI-generated albums.
We can’t let the next generation be unaware of the difference.
Don’t let them be fooled.
What sucks about this is that I’m gonna assume it’ll only be us music geeks who will value acknowledging the difference.
I’m gonna assume that most non-musos won’t give a shit how the music was produced, they’ll just appreciate if they like it or not.
"Oh, this sounds nice. I like the lyrics’
The AI-generated albums ship has sailed yet I think advisory labelling will help a little. It feels futile yet perhaps it’s something.
Doesn’t seem exclusive to Spotify, especially given the Deezer & TikTok mentions herein. Sure Spotify is the most popular streamer so will be the most problematic, but seems like a general issue across streaming apps & social media.
I’m pretty sure AI generated “music” will already be slowly infiltrating all the in-house playlists that Spotify curate. Particularly all the electronic/ambient ones, where it’s easier for AI artists to imitate the real thing (with only diligent listeners being able to spot the difference).
Like @simon.tomes said…the main exacerbating factor is the apathy of your average listener. If asked directly, I reckon most people on the street would agree that AI music is a “bad thing”…but are they then going to actively change their listening habits (which are already very automated and casual) to combat this? It’s very unlikely.
Spotify’s playlist game is wild. Given how so much of it is purely Muzak, they work with agencies who’ll get musicians to record a bunch of different inoffensive jams that they’ll then cram on to their many playlists. @sean mentioned it upthread but Mood Machine by Liz Pelly is really worth a read.
The Velvet Sundown vocals are very convincing. You can hear artefacts in the guitar and bass but I do wonder what model they’ve used for this and whether they rerecorded the vocals.
To dig a little deeper, we contacted Ircam Amplify. That’s the French technology company that unveiled its ‘AI-Generated Detector’ tool last year, claiming a 98.5% accurate-identification rate for spotting GenAI music. It has run The Velvet Sundown’s ‘Dust and Silence’ album through the tool, and shared the results with Music Ally.
The findings suggest that 10 of the album’s 13 tracks are AI-generated with a ‘confidence’ score of 100 out of 100. Two more tracks are labelled AI-generated with a confidence score of 98. Only one track – ‘How Did This Go Wrong’ – comes back with a ‘false’ result (i.e that it’s not AI) with a confidence score of 73.
Oh, and by the way, for every single one of the 12 tracks that Ircam Amplify’s tool thinks are AI-generated, the suspected model used is Suno. Specifically, so the company tells us, Suno 4.5, which launched in May.
Also this King Gizzard story is so bleak and I’ve seen this artist clone stuff happening to artists all year - it’s incredible that AI isn’t being built to protect artists or build in a checking system
Discussing the matter with The Music, a representative for Spotify said, “Spotify strictly prohibits any form of artist impersonation. The content in question was removed for violating our policies, and no royalties were paid out for any streams generated.”
A comment from the UK’s culture secretary just raised a brow
Nandy has just triumphed in an internal battle over whether AI companies should be allowed to train their AI tools on British creative content without first securing the agreement of the artists. Proposed changes to copyright laws have been shelved until further notice.
“Eighteen months ago, we tried to start a conversation with the creative industries and with tech companies, where we set out that opt out was our preferred option. That was a mistake, and we heard loud and clear through the consultation that that was not the right approach. And so, we have listened and responded, and Liz [Kendall] and I are working in lockstep on this.”
She adds: “We think there’s enormous potential in AI. We want to unlock the potential, as do the creative industries… But copyright law in this country is based on one very fundamental principle, which is that people should own their own work. Now we’re a Labour government, and that is a fundamental principle and a hill on which we will die.”
What does she think of those who say nation states ought to show a sense of humility when it comes to tech firms? “That sounds like an AI – did you get that from AI?” she replies. No, it was in fact her Cabinet colleague Peter Kyle, now the Business Secretary, speaking in November 2024. “Don’t write that I thought Peter was AI!” she says. “No, I don’t agree with that… I think governments are elected on behalf of people to defend their interests.”
I had a chat with the CEO from Featured Artist Coalition about AI music on this week’s podcast if anyone fancies a listen Podcasts
