Exploring the pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the music industry

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has flooded almost every major industry with its unavoidable presence. With 180 million users, generative AI tools like ChatGPT have already changed the way in which younger generations access information, with some even using the interface to write their essays for them. A recent artificial intelligence trend claimed that at least 43% of men would be open to falling in love with AI chat bots, which is too large and bizarre of a statistic to even comprehend. However, one field that often goes unacknowledged when people focus on the dangers or opportunities of Artificial Intelligence is the music industry.

Realistically, AI was the last thing the world of music wanted, given just how much the industry has already changed with the revolution of streaming. The interesting advantages Artificial Intelligence offers cannot be ignored so easily, there are now websites allowing people to upload extracts of their voices to generate an entire song sung by them in just minutes, it can be quite entertaining and yet simultaneously, there’s an atmosphere about the entire thing that is creepy.

Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist with my tinfoil hat, I don’t believe by any means that Artificial Intelligence will become the superior being and take over humanity, but I think the possibility of certain roles and opportunities being replaced by AI should certainly be examined. There are websites such as vocalremover.org that can isolate all of the vocals laid on a track in just seconds, using Artificial Intelligence, which means almost anyone can now access the instrumental of a song they want to use at just a click. (At least this will generate work for lawyers, given the amount of copyrighted music that will likely be sampled!)

The problem with Artificial Intelligence isn’t just that it feels somewhat alien to have software that can manipulate vocals and create new sounds, but it will undoubtedly begin to add to the immense traffic that already exists in the music industry, with some 150,000 songs being uploaded to streaming platforms daily. If we begin to become dependent on the help AI can give us in terms of production and even songwriting, will our own creative energy be compromised? What AI is becoming to the musician could soon emulate what the calculator became to the mathematician, its existence makes us reliant on external sources rather than using our own knowledge to complete tasks.

Interestingly, people talk about Artificial Intelligence in a context that suggests it’s more of a worry for the future, but AI tools in music have already been utilised by major artists including The Beatles, who used the software to isolate a deceased John Lennon’s vocals from a busy recording and laid it on a track. This is another concern, Lennon was of course a modern thinking musician, but if he isn’t alive to give consent to his own voice being mastered and manipulated for a track, this sparks a conversation that should raise eyebrows – will we soon lose access to our own voices? Tiktok trends recently have even showcased songs being covered by the late Freddie Mercury, using technology that can sample the musicians vocal technique and apply it to any song, but again, this is the stars voice being manipulated without his consent. Despite this technicality, Mercury has been quoted as saying before his untimely death in 1991, “Do what you want with my music, just don’t make it boring”, which gives the impression he may have been on board with the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in music.

Not only is AI being used via the samples of voices to create music, it’s also being utilised to create new versions of old tracks, with the emergence of something called negative harmonies. A negative harmony in essence inverts pitch and chord progression to make a song sound completely different and entirely the same, simultaneously. (Do me a favour and look up Bohemian Rhapsody – Negative Harmony)

Some artists have been open about their dismissal of Artificial Intelligence, including Ariana Grande, who simply replied “What are we doing?! I hate it, it’s terrifying” when pressed on the matter during a recent interview with Zach Sang. Of course, this was in response to her voice being used to cover songs in viral Tiktok videos.

Whilst the use of another person’s voice by AI certainly raises ethical concerns, the question of whether Artificial Intelligence could create a product to compete with musical compositions itself still remains to be answered. First and foremost, emotion is something only living creatures can possess, thus AI likely couldn’t generate anything with the same emotional depth or authenticity that a person could add to a song. There are further issues with copyright, if we assume that AI must always imitate existing material to create new compositions, we should also assume that it’s plagiarising from work that already exists in the world and is undoubtedly protected and copyrighted.

Depending on the data that the software uses, the use of AI could frankly kill the individuality and uniqueness of different genres, especially if it follows a formula that only produces popular music and avoids subgenres. However, not everything that Artificial Intelligence has to offer is necessarily negative, in fact there are some advantages to the phenomenon that should definitely be taken into consideration. If utilised correctly, AI can give a musician ideas and input, creating harmonies and assisting with lyricism in seconds, saving the artist hours of time with writing and crafting their compositions. Unfortunately for sound mixers and engineers, AI can also do a pretty solid job of mixing tracks and producing an outcome that holds its own on a professional level, although certain unique tweaks and changes may be lost without the human touch. As The Beatles have already exemplified, the software can be used to restore and repair tracks that would otherwise be lost in the waves of time, enabling the preservation of historical recordings by enhancing the quality of vocals or reducing unwanted background noise.

With all of its flaws and uses, the question remains to be answered, is AI going to benefit the music industry or sabotage it? Interestingly, a report by McKinsey states that AI will cut so many costs by saving time that it’ll contribute some $3.5 trillion annually to global economic value by 2030. According to Spotify, they found A 35% increase in user engagement with the use of algorithms that generate personalised playlists, powered by Artificial Intelligence. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some 75 million jobs globally are predicted to be lost at the hands of AI, which in turn may create a climate of suffering and potentially poverty for families. Ultimately, the intentions of AI all boils down to how it’s utilised by humans and whether it’s a positive or negative chance all depends on an individual’s values and perspective. Personally? I think artists with concerns such as Ariana Grande will still sleep peacefully tonight, they’re not likely to be out of work anytime soon.