The Silent Advance of AI in Music: A Threat to Artists

The music industry is facing a new and disruptive challenge with the growing popularity of bands and songs generated entirely by artificial intelligence. This phenomenon, which is already a tangible reality, is beginning to directly impact the economic ecosystem that sustains professional musicians and creators.

Examples like the 70s rock of Velvet Sundown or the country of Aventhis and The Devil Inside demonstrate the ability of these synthetic creations to capture the public's attention, achieving over a million plays on mainstream platforms like Spotify. What makes matters worse is the complete opacity surrounding these projects; the producers behind this 100% artificial music are, in practice, inaccessible, and there is no transparency about the methods or tools used in its creation.

Unlike competitors like Deezer, Spotify has chosen not to differentiate or label tracks that are the product of AI, leaving listeners in a state of uncertainty. Leo Sidran, renowned producer and composer, warns of a near future in which it will be impossible to determine the origin or author of a large amount of music.

For the artist, this situation highlights a worrying trend in the industry: the standardization and predictability of many popular songs, a fertile ground for AI to generate content that is familiar and acceptable to the average ear.

Producer Yung Spielburg identifies a clear division that explains the advancement of this technology: the difference between "active listening" and "passive listening." Active listening, where the audience seeks to connect with the artist's message and identity, seems to be more protected from the influence of AI. However, passive listening, which occurs in the background while performing other activities such as cooking, dining, or working, is the true target of synthetic music.

In these contexts, the listener isn't interested in learning about the artist behind the song; they're just looking for a soundscape. If AI algorithms are refined to the point where the difference is imperceptible to the casual listener, record labels and companies will have a clear economic incentive to opt for generative AI, as it will allow them to avoid paying royalties.

Dennis DeSantis, a professor at the University of Rochester, reinforces this idea by pointing out that streaming platforms are already populating "ambient" playlists with music from anonymous and mysterious artists. This model extends beyond streaming, reaching film productions, series, advertising, and sound systems for public spaces, where music plays a secondary role and synthetic content becomes easy and profitable prey.