Prof Snyder's Music Biz News

Can Great Music Rise Above the Slop? [WARNING: May Be Depressing For Musicians]

The Dead Internet Theory: "AI-generated material will eventually flood the internet so thoroughly, that nothing human can be found. "

The ocean of music is filling with AI slop. Major artists flood the streams with tons of remixes, altered versions, and clips of the same song/album.

New artists try to get attention by posting 100s of Tik-Tok videos of the same song hoping just one will go viral. With 'Oversaturation', 'Content-Oversuppy', and focus on old music instead of new music, does new music stand a chance, or are we in the 'Worst-ever Era of American Pop Culture' ?

Will AI Finally Be Able To Scuttle That Pesky Copyright Thing?

(Update: There is an article today on The Verge entitled "Elon Musk’s Apparent Power Play at the Copyright Office Completely Backfired: Ripping off content to train AI wasn't going to fly with either MAGA populists or MAGA media". So while there is absolutely still no reason given to fire the director who is most qualified to guide the Copyright Office on matters of AI, the end result is up in the air, and I remain skeptical, as given in the example of Meta that just gobbled up millions of books for AI, without permission from the authors or publishers.)

Why was the Director of the Copyright Office suddenly fired? Was it because AI companies didn't like what was in the preliminary Copyright Office report on AI and Fair Use? That they want creators' works and compositions, ignoring the recommendation of the report (and the Constitution), to be free to feed their AI models?

"If tech companies can pillage and plunder people’s creative work so they can make money for themselves and their friends, then it will destroy whole creative industries,” (Reid Southen, concept artist and illustrator)

Once that door is flung open for AI to gobble up all human creativity without a care about the human creators, there is no putting it all back.

The Dead Internet Theory: "AI-generated material will eventually flood the internet so thoroughly, that nothing human can be found. "

The ocean of music is filling with AI slop. Major artists flood the streams with tons of remixes, altered versions, and clips of the same song/album. New artists try to get attention by posting 100s of Tik-Tok videos of the same song hoping just one will go viral. With 'Oversaturation', 'Content-Oversuppy', and focus on old music instead of new music, does new music stand a chance, or are we in the 'Worst-ever Era of American Pop Culture' ?

Revivification. The groundbreaking tech that will shape the future of music production! An Art Gallery in Australia is featuring NEW music being composed years after the passing of the composer, Alvin Lucier, with a process known as revivification. "“One of the concepts we are exploring is whether an artist could continue to create work after they have passed away.” Stem cells developed from Lucier's blood cells at Harvard, became living organoids / 'mini-brains' located in and used to create new music in the art gallery.

"The more [artists] that stick their head in the sand, the more likely it's gonna go to the people who are doing it for profit and won't be thinking about them." Heap

"Actors can make good money licensing their images to AI companies, but many are later shocked to see where their digital clones turn up".

As artists like Grimes allows use of her AI voice, and Imogen Heap allows the use of "...the vibe, feel, rhythmic style, instrument textures" of her music, do they really know how their AI versions may end up? Actors who sell their likeness and even emotions for AI training, are shocked how it all is used, and have no recourse. Even now, most musicians don't realize the music distributor they may use allows AI to remix, mashup, and more, their music on Spotify and elsewhere (read the contract!). Heap makes clear that corporations are going to use AI regardless of what musicians think. Even the Academy that once viewed AI as the enemy, now allows films to win Oscars.

Anybody who uses AI to create anything, whether it's art or music, should know about this decision: • "Up until January 2025, the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) had rejected all AI-generated works on the basis that they lacked sufficient human authorship" • "This landmark decision sets a precedent for future AI-assisted artworks, highlighting the importance of human creativity and guidance in the creation process to qualify for copyright protection" • "This ruling is a major advancement in the legal recognition of works created with the support of generative AI tools and models. It provides clarity to the thousands of artists and businesses that have already begun to incorporate AI techniques into their creative workflows but need protection."

"One artist should not push another artist to the brink of a financial collapse." So says the lawyer for Vince Vance who sued Mariah Carey for copyright infringement, and lost. He wanted $20M and all copies of her evergreen, 'All I Want for Xmas', to be destroyed. But instead, he now owes her reimbursement for over $180,000 in legal fees.

"One artist should not push another artist to the brink of a financial collapse."

So says the lawyer for Vince Vance who sued Mariah Carey for copyright infringement, and lost. He wanted $20M and all copies of her evergreen, 'All I Want for Xmas', to be destroyed. But instead, he now owes her reimbursement for over $180,000 in legal fees.

"One artist should not push another artist to the brink of a financial collapse."

So says the lawyer for Vince Vance who sued Mariah Carey for copyright infringement, and lost. He wanted $20M and all copies of her evergreen, 'All I Want for Xmas', to be destroyed. But instead, he now owes her reimbursement for over $180,000 in legal fees.

As Jonesy opines, "It’s bad enough that humans, 100% humans, have to compete with AI generated fake artists and music on Spotify, now the animal kingdom is elbowing in???" Meet HorsegiirL, a German DJ who has created a persona as a horse, both while performing and in character during interviews. Rather it's brilliant, or just another gimmick, either way it's working!