Nø Førmat! You need to know about this record label.

Nø Førmat! is an independent record label based in Paris. They’ve been around for over 20 years, and they’re one of my favourite labels. I love so many of their releases, but my current favourite is the album “Synthetic Hearts” by South African duo Msaki & Tubatsi. It’s a masterpiece!

I’ve got a soft spot for South African music because I was born and raised there, but they’ve got artists from all over the world on their label. I’m confident that you’ll find an artist of theirs that resonates with you. And for the record, I don’t know anyone at this label, so this is not a promo for them. I’m just a fan of theirs.

Another one of my favorites is the album “Our Calling” by the English singer-songwriter Piers Faccini and the Malian kora-player Ballake Sissoko. It’s a truly unique collaboration. The beauty is heartwarming, and the catchy melodies will have you joyfully singing along.

Do yourself a favour, and spend some time checking out the artists on this heroic record label. So why are they heroic? Because they’re one of the very few labels in the music industry who are brave enough (and awake enough) to be rejecting generative AI. Here’s a quote from a recent newsletter of theirs about this topic:

“We refuse to let what artists have spent a lifetime mastering be melted into billions of data points and regurgitated as artificial music by Udio, Suno or others. We refuse to let music, and more broadly, art, be reduced to robotic excrement, just to fatten a tech unicorn.”

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Now you can see why I love this label! And there’s more. They continue:

“This is not the world we want. Not for our children, not for all the world’s children, who dream of one day learning to play a couple of notes on a guitar. Because, how, in such a world, can we transmit the teaching, the effort, composition techniques, the love of practicing music and the social bonds it creates?”

If it sounds like they’re exaggerating, they’re not. I’ve been teaching music for 31 years, and I can confirm that interest in music education has almost entirely disappeared. The numbers don’t lie. It’s crystal clear: hardly anyone nowadays is willing to put in the work it takes to learn music.

The sales of my online courses and PDFs have fallen by over 80% since the release of generative AI to the public. And for music teachers like me, who are trying to survive on less than 20% of our previous income (which was low to start with), we’re no longer able to pay the rent. So unless people start choosing humans over robots soon, all the music making skills that have been passed on for centuries will be lost, because music teachers all over the world are having to find other work.

And with no music teachers, the tiny amount of people who still want to learn music and can concentrate long enough to do it, will have no other choice but to learn from AI. If you have kids, please think about this, because it’s happening right now. This will be your children’s reality within the next year or two, because when music teachers can make significantly more money stocking shelves in their local grocery store, what choice do we have? The rent won’t pay itself.

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Right, back to Nø Førmat!’s newsletter now. So they continue:

“We believe in the power of artists over our imagination, our way of interacting with the world, our well-being and mental health. We believe in the profound impact of their work on our lives, and we want to continue nurturing this work. We believe that creation, -and the technique inherent to it, is a human miracle that must be fiercely protected and passed on to future generations. We therefore refuse any use of our catalog to train AI.”

As with everything in the world. If there’s demand for something, people will supply it. The people and corporations who are responsible for making the AI that’s killing our art (and a lot more too) are only doing it because it’s what the masses want. If the masses didn’t want AI, these corporations would’ve already moved on to something else.

I think this is one of the (many) times where we can learn a lot from the Amish. Every new technology that comes to market is assessed by the elders in each Amish community. If they decide the technology will deepen their relationships with each other and with God, then they welcome it. If it won’t, they reject it.

This is the nuanced approach that we all need to take when it comes to new technology. Our choices matter, because whatever we want, corporations will make it and sell it to us. They don’t care if it’s bad for us, our families, our communities, and our surroundings. So please, think about AI. Deeply ponder it. Ask yourself this question: By using AI, am I creating the world I want for myself and the kids?

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Think about how much the world has already changed since ChatGPT was launched in November 2022. That was just over three years ago. Mad times! I remember listening to songs from the first wave of AI-generated music a couple years ago. They sounded super fake and robotic. But now AI songs sound more real and organic than most human-made songs. That’s because humans are using auto-tune and a bunch of other editing tools, which iron out every crease of imperfection, and therefore every trace of humanity. Meanwhile, AI-generated music is doing the exact opposite, and as a result, it’s sounding way more human.

On that note. If you’re not okay with this transhuman agenda, then head on over to www.NoFormat.net and check out the artists on this heroic record label. They need your support! And if you make music, or if you want to start making music, then check out my website afterwards. There’s tons of free resources there that were all made by a human. Me! Whether you’re beginner, intermediate, or advanced, I’ve got something for you.

If you’re a beginner, start by reading my free book 12 Music Theory Hacks to Learn Scales & Chords. It only takes about half an hour to read, then you’ll have a solid foundation of the basics. If you’re already making music, you can work your way through 30 free PDF tutorials. They’re step-by-step musical “recipes” you follow to instantly make better music. All genres are there, too. Electronic to hip-hop, classical to metal, and everything in between. Enjoy!

On top of the free book, 30 free PDFs, and over 220 free YouTube tutorials, I don’t paywall any of these posts either. I don’t want to exclude anyone. But, if you’re enjoying all these free offerings and want me to make more, please support my work by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only about the cost of one coffee per month, but if enough people join, then I can pay the rent and keep doing this work. To sign up, please visit HackMusicTheory.com/Join.

If you can’t afford to at the moment, though, no problem. You can give Hack Music Theory a 5-star rating in your podcast app, that supports my work too. Either way, thank you so much! And welcome aboard the Songwriter’s Ark, where all the music making skills are being preserved through this global AI flood. The flood shall pass. The skills will last.

Ray Harmony :)

Help keep the Songwriter's Ark afloat.

Photo by Mart Production

Ray Harmony is a multi award-winning music lecturer, who’s made music with Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad), Ihsahn (Emperor), Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs), Madchild (Swollen Members), and more.

Ray is also the founder of Hack Music Theory, a YouTube channel with over 10 million views and over 250,000 subscribers learning the fast, easy and fun way to make music without using AI, cos it ain’t no fun getting a robot to write “your” songs!

Artwork by Jérôme Witz. Nø Førmat!’s graphic designer since 2004.

Outro music by Ray Harmony, based on the music theory from GoGo Penguin "Everything Is Going to Be OK".

Listen below, or on any podcast app.