Why AI WON'T Kill the Music Industry

The prospect of AI music taking over the world has been met with almost universal fear and anger amongst musicians and for good reason. But will AI really kill the music industry? Today I want to put all this in perspective and give you some context and the reasons why I believe AI will not replace composers, producers and songwriters, at least not in the immediate future.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to be concerned about and lots of risk, but its not in my view, the musical armageddon that some commentators fear.

0:00 Introduction
01:00 What does this mean for hobbyists?
01:50 What does this mean for media composers?
02:20 Interview with Generative AI authority
06:46 What composers need to do
07:18 Legal barriers to AI
07:45 Testing AI music for TV
11:10 The threat of AI music
14:19 1000 year old dead king’s take on AI

[papitolindo]

Can AI make better music than humans?
No

Does the best music get noticed?
No

Will Spotify have AI make music and then push music to the top of the charts just so it can make 100% on all songs?

Absolutely

[twombley]

"Hello AI, are you a threat?" "Erm, *cough* not at all. Humans are so much better than we"

[gabriel_kyne]

Also, I think that AI companies are trying to solve all of the wrong problems. All of the tools I've seen are trying to replace or shorten the act of composing, which is actually fun, rather than replace or enhance the boring parts of being a composer (like sample categorization, stem exporting, organizing files, sending emails, proofreading parts, I could go on and on).

[User-ikkc]

There REALLY need to be laws that protect us creatives so we can keep our job!

[corrosive]

That's exactly what I would expect AI to say to lull us into a false sense of security

[mattwatson]

Not sure that asking ChatGPT for an opinion is a good starting point.

[RorenMovies]

1:20
Am I really the only one in the world who lost his job as a hobby composer because of AI?
The person I was doing music for told me he didn't need me and that AI would be composing music for him now.

[TheSpacedCowboyDude]

I remember in the 80's Live Musicians wanted to ban synths.

Most of the best albums had session players on them writing and/or performing rather than the Artists whose name was on the record.

How many artists use the same chord structures etc?

Having played around with "Ai" music i really don't see it being anything other than another tool rather than a threat for musicians.


Music wasn't invented by computers and I really can't see Ai killing it off, If anything it may be the thing that brings real music more to the forefront..

Maybe..

[jmprofessor]

Thank you so much for this video. I really enjoyed hearing your perspective on this topic. I always learn something new from your videos. 🙏🏼🎶

[hervevazeilles]

People got this wrong all the time. Automation doesn't kill all the jobs, it just kills 99% of the jobs. The one who last are the artisans making finly crafted expensive items for posh people. And the experts at using automation who will be be 100 times more productive than traditional workers. Why can't we imagine AI that you give a melodic phrase to and a few verbal indication on style and orchestration and get an audio file but also a score midi files and lirary pressets to use. And you can converse with your AI so you can get it to make any kind of changes you want or variations or use the same theme in a different mood or context. The few people still hand crafting their stuff will have their inovations copied and improved in seconds where it took them years to develop their new thing. And the copyrights can be given to the prompter or to the composer who asked AI for the midi files and samples instead of audio files.

[its_clean]

AI isn't going to kill all composing, at least not at first. But, as you said, it will likely come close to killing off the entire segment of inexpensive, low-effort, derivative music that often comes from royalty-free libraries or is commissioned for advertising. At first glance, that doesn't sound so terrible, because most of us don't care for that kind of music anyway. But many now-established composers and producers got their start doing that kind of stuff. Now, what's a young aspiring composer going to do? No one is going to hire a kid off the street to score their $100m sword-and-sandal epic, they'd want someone with experience and credentials. Once upon a time, a lot of that experience came from indie films, TV commercials, and other low-budget productions. If those jobs are taken by AI composers or libraries of AI compositions, where are human composers going to get their start? As beloved elder composers die off, who is going to take their place?

AI in no way poses any threat to the prestige level of any media: literature, music, movies, etc. It only threatens the lowest rung. But that's like saying: we're not going to destroy any of your army, we're just taking out all your cadets and trainees and wiping out all your boot camps. Sure, you're going to be fine for a while. By the time you realize that your entire structure has been cut off at the knees, it will be too late for you to do anything about it.

[amyl.]

It said “at this stage”; that’s very disturbing.

All the text used to train text-based generative AI (including machine translation) has been stolen; all the pictures used to train generative AI have been stolen. I’m really pessimistic

[riptanionAF]

For best results with Udio, you need to use the custom lyrics box. Not only can you add your own lyrics, but you can also add tags telling the bot what part of the song you're at (verse, chorus, bridge, finale, etc) and where you want certain instruments to come in (eg, string interlude, guitar solo, piano noodling, etc). If you let the bot take total control, your results won't be all that great. You have to take control of the bot, and make it do what you want it to do. Also, the more tags you put in the prompt box up top, especially specific ones, the more control you'll have. Like anything else, you have to experiment and get experience with it before you can really start making good stuff with it.

[whatsstefon]

Regarding copyright, wasn't there a recent story from Spotify where they have specifically said that they are publishing music using AI covering all possible chord progressions, lyrics using all sorts of topics and copywriting it all?

AI composition will eventually replace us. If not for speed and practicality, for affordability. A friend of mine was working in an orchestra pit for years, and suddenly they were all replaced with a backing track that was arranged and sent off to an orchestra in an Eastern European country, recorded and mastered and the finished product sent back for under $1000

I don't need to illustrate the the cost savings there.

AI music will only take this same business model further. A Musical Director will become the producer, engineer and artist with a press of a button. Eliminating that entire "collaboration" process.



Maybe I'm just so jaded and sad about it that this is my point of view.

[pianodancebandkentcounty]

This is a deeply insightful and "human" video. So great! As you say, AI can imitate so many human things, very well. And this puts so many human endeavors at risk, for "replacement." But, as shown so well in the Blade Runner movies, and the associated writings of Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, et al., AI is all about imitation. Many of us humans will be displaced by imitation, as we have been, ever since the beginning of the industrial revolution. But there is ONE thing that can not be replicated: the life experiences of an actual human. The weaknesses of a human. The loves and hatreds of a human. The human that needs toilet paper and a good meal and a dear friend. The complete life of a human being: starting from the sheer panic of birth, and manifested in the sheer panic of life and loss going forward. Music is for humans, and by humans. As such, we composers and artists and creators must do one thing: Create what WE ourselves want to hear. No robot will ever sing a lullaby, or crack a really good joke in a pub.

[markanthonyart]

As a hobbyist, i just dont want to see AI tools added to Cubase and making it a selling point at a higher price. Adobe getting shame for this already for AI in Photoshop

[omrishany]

At the rate AI is developing, maybe now it can’t replace human artists, but in 5 years it is hard to believe it won’t be able to make the same music that makes you feel special. To make music like Radiohead, Jeff buckley, The Smiths and more. And it will ruin it for us and twist our mind.

[infestedalien]

A good thing I've heard is that calculators didn't replace mathematicians but is now a great tool for them. If AI is used and developed right it will become an outstanding tool for learning things. We have been here many times, electronic instruments was feared to destroy classic music but that didn't happen. Smartphone was about to make us less social but instead we social in different ways also like forums, chats etc. It's faschinating how we human have "catastrophic thinking" as default mindset :)

[hanshilmer]

Finally a sober view on this topic. A big thank you, Michael!

[arziva]

AI doesn't learn music in the way humans do. It lacks the organic, emotional connection that comes with true artistry. Instead, it analyzes data and patterns, emulating what it has been trained on without actually understanding what music is or what it represents. It simply mimics trillions of learned patterns.

AI-generated music, while impressive, may appeal to those who prefer lifeless, mechanical creations rather than the passionate, visionary work of artists. This shift threatens to strip art of its soul, replacing human creativity with impersonal prompts driven by a capitalist agenda. We're heading toward a future where everything is created for the sake of profit, without the dreams and vision that fuel true artistic expression.

If we continue down this path, we risk losing what makes art valuable—its ability to inspire, challenge, and connect on a deeply human level. Before contributing to this world of soulless content, it’s worth considering the long-term impact on creativity and the essence of art itself.