AI is superb at creating—or regurgitating—completely common, unoriginal music in excessive portions. That could be a large, large drawback for human musicians who’re additionally creating completely common, unoriginal music, no matter how a lot of it they make.
On the newest episode of my Artist Growth Podcast, I discuss what occurs when musicians all of a sudden discover themselves competing with expertise that may generate an basically limitless quantity of competent, listenable and infrequently painfully boring music in seconds. We’re coming into a world the place “fairly good” is accessible on demand. There isn’t any shortage anymore. In order for you one other nice ambient observe, one other competent pop tune or one other piece of background music that sounds vaguely like one thing you have got already heard, AI could make hundreds of them earlier than lunch.
That adjustments the equation for musicians.
If AI has already mastered common, I don’t suppose competing with it on quantity, technical perfection or velocity makes any sense. We’re going to lose that contest. Machines can work quicker, generate extra options and endlessly revise themselves with out getting drained, discouraged or needing to go get a sandwich.
What they can’t simply manufacture is the factor I consider is turning into more and more invaluable: a recognizable human viewpoint.
I name this the human premium. As AI-generated music turns into cheaper, simpler and successfully infinite, the qualities that belong to a person artist grow to be extra invaluable, not much less. Style issues. Judgment issues. Persona issues. Imperfection can matter. The unusual choice that technically shouldn’t work however one way or the other turns into the rationale you keep in mind the tune issues.
For musicians, merely making “good music” is now not sufficient. There’s an excessive amount of good music already, and there may be about to be exponentially extra of it. We now have to develop musical identities which are recognizable. We now have to grow to be higher performers and communicators. We now have to make selections that reveal one thing about who we’re as a substitute of regularly making an attempt to approximate what’s already profitable.
Most significantly, I feel we have now to grow to be extra prepared to take inventive dangers.
And which will in the end be the sudden reward of this second. AI goes to grow to be terribly good at staying contained in the traces. That leaves an amazing quantity of territory for human beings who’re prepared to scribble outdoors of them.
The long run might not belong to the musician who can take advantage of music and even essentially the most technically excellent music.
It might belong to the musician who could make one thing that would solely have come from them.
