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Artificial intelligence is the latest topic to pose a threat to the artist community. While most artists remain in the dark and are unaware of its impact, a growing number of musicians are concerned of A.I taking over their beloved songwriting craft.
Will A.I. replace musicians?
The mere thought of artificial intelligence taking over of the music industry is frightening. Recently, social media platforms lit up after music, created by artificial intelligence, was released to Spotify. The track in question features prominent hip hop and global superstars Drake and The Weeknd. Needless to say, people took to social media to express how convincing their performances were with many expressing concerns over the future of the music industry.
Record labels should be worried
Needless to say, when AI convincingly outputs a soundtrack that features the vocals of one of your most lucrative performers, record labels could see this is a problem. Now more than ever, the correct input prompts and a well-coded A.I. app are enough to create chart-topping music within minutes.
Where as under traditional norms, producers, artists, performers, mix and mastering engineers typically receive compensation of some form or another, artificial intelligence eliminates the financial costs associated with a song's release. This is game-changing and record label execs, performers and distributors are starting to jockey for an advantageous position once the dust settles.
How creative is A.I. generated music?
A.I. in music is nothing new. In fact, many years ago, a simplified A.I. apps was responsible for churning out basic music scores similar to what an untrained 8 year old plays on a piano. The music was off-putting, simple and lacked emotion. Today's A.I. however, is much wiser and capable of fooling many listeners as evidenced in listening contests. From hip hop to death metal, A.I. is quickly learning the intricacies associated with musical genres.
Cutting out the middle men - A.I. generated artists
Record labels are no different than any business with a mission to lower cost and increase profits. We wouldn't be surprised of the rise of the first label representing an exclusive A.I.-generated talent roster. Sounds like a label exec's dream - no more fussy artists, or contract disputes, or album delays because "an artist hasn't found their muse". In theory, A.I.-generated artists could potentially release multiple tracks - every single day.
The calm before the storm
For the time being, artists will continue to generate income through "traditional means" such as streams, merchandise and performances. But many argues that those days are coming to an end. We never doubt the resilience of the artist community however. Remember file-sharing websites like Napster? We were convinced it was the end of the music industry. But still, musicians found a way. Same thing to Apple music and other "music for purchase" websites. Musicians somehow managed to pull through that one despite tracks being sold for $0.99. In time, AI will find it place within the music industry but in the meantime, we'll have to see how much of that space it will take.
