AI: Musicians' Friend or Foe?

If you’re exhausted by all the worry and hand-wringing caused by the threat of Artificial Intelligence obsoleting musicians, I think you’re going to like this episode of TAXI TV. I think you’ll be somewhat less stressed after watching it!

TAXI member/composer/producer, Paul Croteau has done the work the rest of us don’t have the bandwidth to do—he’s been obsessively following the AI discussions, lawsuits, and technological advances the rest of us don’t. At least not to the same extent.

Oh, we know some of the stuff, but most of the opinions we all hear (in my opinion) are based on far less information than what I think Paul has consumed. I’ve watched most of his videos and had several discussions with him on this hot-button topic, and feel like he can inject some common sense that might make us feel like the sky isn’t falling as fast or hard as some might have us think.

⏱️⏱️VIDEO CHAPTERS⏱️⏱️
0:18 - TAXI CEO, Michael Laskow introduces his guest, Paul Croteau, welcomes the chat room, and explains what will be discussed during the episode.
3:06 - Paul explains what AI is in the context of music and how it works.
5:41 - Paul explains generative AI vs. audio sampling.
9:00 - Michael shares a story about using Suno and what he did with it.
12:25 - AI technology such as Suno and Udio is still new, but it will evolve and get better.
15:26 - What is it about AI that you think musicians fear?
18:53 - Paul gives a quick overview of the types of articles and videos he has watched and read over the last several months.
22:57 - Michael talks about TV shows in the 90s that used a lot of music by indie artists that were licensed for that use only.
26:29 - Can you give us a bullet point version of the lawsuits that the major labels have brought against Suno and Udio?
31:12 - Virtually all songwriters, composers, and producers draw inspiration from songs and artists that have come before them. We all have memories stored in our brains of what music has influenced us. They don't copy what inspires them.
31:30 - AI is an efficient way of gathering and storing information or data for future use as inspiration. If artists don't sample or directly copy something it is not copyright infringement.
33:04 - Paul explains further - we listen, we study, and we repeat.
39:58 - Image and likeness need to be protected, but it is not the same as AI-generated music.
44:20 - Paul discussed the problem of where the "line" is as to using AI in music creation.
47:43 - Is it a slippery slope? What if you can use AI-driven plugins?
48:19 - Copyright laws vary from state to state.
50:11 - Michael talks about how using the right prompts can help when using AI.
53:00 - What about using AI as a thesaurus or rhyming dictionary for your lyrics?
59:04 - Paul talks about saturation, there are 100-120,000 songs uploaded to streaming services a day! Is TikTok and YouTube damaging the music business?
1:01:20 - Do you agree that AI can write or sing a note, but it will never achieve human emotion?
1:05:01 - Can you recommend a site to learn AI prompts?
1:08:42 - Do you think AI will be able to digitally master music as well as humans do?
1:13:02 - I got feedback from the Recording Academy last year at a conference that AI music was edited or modified with some significance and is copyrightable.
1:14:49 - How do you know big artists aren't using AI behind the scenes?
1:15:40 - What are the best uses of AI, as creators, we can take advantage of right now?
1:17:50 - Do you think coming up with a new sound is the way to go?
1:20:21 - Which is better, Suno or Udio and has Paul used both?
1:22:30 - What are Paul's biggest concerns with AI in music licensing?
1:25:55 - Has AI destroyed the copyrighting market?
1:29:14 - Can AI generate sound design? Would it be a differentiating factor if we use sound design in our cues, and not sound effects per se?

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[jamielaboz]

You can stem split Suno files with an AI stem splitter and make midi files from the stems in Logic...

[Dewledoux]

I wish I had inquired about generative ai music submissions to Taxi before actually doing them. I’ve wasted a lot of money by simply not asking that question. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[stessassss]

will schedule in a view for sure this week

[petecarrollmusic]

Humans don't intentionally make music to generate income per se, they make music as a result of emotional experiences, it's the divine spark, comparing this to Gen AI creating music is wrong. Human music is based on human emotions, Gen AI is not. That's the difference. The Divine Spark. Art cannot be contrived the way in which Gen AI art is. When musicians have listened to the bands/artists they like for years, its added into an emotional database in their soul, which is tapped into when they create music, a riff etc. Musicians dont scrape existing works the same way Gen AI platforms/systems do. Divine inspiration is our ability as humans to be open to that which affects us emotionally, that which we align with morally. Gen AI will never capture that mode of humanness. To Art is to Human.

[jamielaboz]

AI music can get copyrights as long as a human is involved. It can be registered with the PROs, because they don't listen to the actual tracks.