AI-generated music is on the rise, with virtual artists like Xania Monet and Breaking Rust climbing their way to the top of Billboard’s charts. Another virtual band is The Devil Inside, amassing nearly 200,000 monthly listeners and boasting their own merchandise.
Students at Point Loma Nazarene University with ties to the music industry share an uncomfortable acknowledgement of AI-generated music, recognizing that it exists in place of human artists and projects.
Will Turk, a third-year business marketing major, shared his experiences with AI as a musician with music on Spotify.
“There is no greater failure in the world of music technology than something promised to teach and improve musical talent being abused solely for the sake of profit,” Turk said. “If AI uploads continue to devour human talent, Spotify will become more of an e-commerce platform than that of one where creative expression is welcomed.”
Instead of being a product of value, AI music has become a quick alternative to lower costs for producers. But humans are being pushed to the shadows while AI takes the stage, leaving the listeners to make a decision (consciously or unconsciously) on whether to absorb human-curated content or AI-based content.
Turk expressed worries for his own artistic endeavors and for the pursuits of underground artists attempting to make their debut.
“I am fearful that this may lead to the burial of talent underneath a blanket of or the discouragement of music distribution as a whole,” Turk said.
As an artist, Turk feels that Spotify has not taken as much action as he had hoped the company would against AI-generated music.
Spotify declared that they were focusing on three main areas of policy work: Enforcement on impersonation content, filtering AI spam and disclosing AI for music with industry-standards. Yet, many users are still bombarded with AI content that are getting thousands of monthly listeners each month.
Gisselle Martin, a fourth-year biology major and speech and debate team president at PLNU, had a more encompassing approach to the argument against AI.
“AI is beneficial in some ways but harmful in others. It is not good for the environment or the arts and humanities. It is taking people’s jobs and taking away the creativity perspective of art,” Martin said.
Martin acknowledged that AI is a double-edged sword — new opportunities never seen before are being achieved through the usage of generative technologies, but where the line is drawn between helping and harming humanity is unknown.
“I personally don’t like the idea of AI music. Music is a form of art, and art is not only the process it takes to make the music, but it’s also the listeners’ experience. The AI can’t ‘feel,’ and art is an accurate depiction of feeling — they’re mutually exclusive,” Martin said.
Suno, often used in the music industry, is a platform that creates high-quality songs with its extensive possibilities based on simplistic text prompts.
Chaz Celaya, PLNU professor and director of the commercial music program, stressed the need to educate students about Suno’s role in the music industry they aim to enter, while still acknowledging the platform’s positive aspects.
“We have Suno-generated content with AI-generated artists that are successful,” Celaya said. “They are garnering lots of streams. To see how the business model will work apart from copyright registration, like how are they going to monetize without ownership?”
It would be malpractice, according to Celaya, to not teach students about programs that can generate polished music products in a matter of seconds, but it acts as a cautionary tale to the students.
“My commercial music students will be fully exposed to AI because the industry is,” Celaya said. “We are preparing them for the industry. Will I say this is what they should do every time? No, but I want them to be aware of the process and can see how it changes from now.”
Grace Chaves