Artificial Intelligence (AI) is subtly disrupting every aspect of the creative industry from content creation to music and art. This trend is taking the music industry by storm, sending shivers across sectors on the uncertainty around the future of music and if AI algorithms will one day overtake the artists who pour their soul and craft into the melodies that soothe our souls and inspire.
While every new technology comes with its pros and cons, AI is on another level. Currently, AI platforms like Suno and Udio are giving artists a run for their money.
These platforms can generate music within minutes just with text prompts. Using a combination of generative AI like Chatgpt and Suno, an artist or any other individual can produce a song within minutes. Furthermore, there are a plethora of other platforms like Amper Music and AIVA that can turn prompts into music within seconds which artists can monetize upon paying subscription fee.
AI can create, mix, master and even artists can clone their voices in platforms like Suno and let AI produce vocals on their behalf. This has raised a lot of concerns and heated debates on whether AI is a music enabler or an affront to the sector.
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While the debate is raging, artists and producers are bullish that AI, just like other technologies, is a tool to advance the music industry and not to derail.
Producer Motiff Di Don says that musicians and other players in the music industry shouldn’t look at AI as a threat but as a technology which will fasten the music production process. According to him, there have been other technologies in the past that artists saw as a threat but it turned out to be indispensable in the art of music production.
Motiff Di Don says it’s unwise to compete with the technology and the best thing to do is to find a way to make it work for you.
“Any technology is coming to make the work easier and we don’t have to be afraid of it, even the keyboard was feared just as artists feel threatened by AI. What is needed is to find a way to use AI to make the work easier not to see it as a challenge. If you fight technology you will be left behind,” Motiff observes.
Producer Totti, the music producer, sound engineer and audio visual producer based in Mombasa says the AI is at its infancy stage as far as local music and quality is concerned. According to him, AI is an assistive tool not a fully-fledged professional music generator. However, he acknowledges that the technology is still developing and until then professional music needs the work of real producers.
“[AI] is still developing. For me I do quite a lot of general music and there are local genres like Mwanzele music from the Coast. AI cannot do Mwanzele because the way you program it needs a lot of human touch. If you are doing music professionally, there are things you need to do with human engineers,” Totti says.
He adds: “Music has its soul, it’s a feeling and when you use AI, you might lose the soul of the music and that is where real producers and artists go to the studio to produce music that speaks to the soul and is very impactful.”
Geoffrey Machabe, gospel artist says AI is a bag of goodies spiced with industry-strungling consequences. The songwriter says the originality of music is at risk and at the same time it will become a breeding ground for music with no messages. He echoes producer Totti’s on assistive role that AI should play.
“AI is good, we can’t deny it. However, the themes that we have in music right now will get lost when AI is used entirely to produce songs. The creativity and originality of our music will be lost. It will also make musicians lazy and won’t think beyond AI in their creation process. In music we are trying to speak to society based on real-life circumstances but AI will generalize it,” Machabe says.
Understanding Music Business
Despite the hype around AI music skyrocketing worldwide, producers believe that success in the music industry will always come down to a deep understanding of the music business . Motiff Di Don says musicians have to work hard beyond just producing music but also in branding. According to him, producing music is one piece of the puzzle and selling is another.
“AI can give you good ideas but if you are not a good artist it won’t help much. Artists should work hard with the understanding that there’s no robot that will replace you because AI won’t perform like musicians. Having the ability to make music is one thing but you need to brand yourself as an artist for you to succeed,” he says.
Producer Totti says AI will be just a fraction of what an artist needs to succeed in the music business. He opines that AI cannot guarantee success even in this era of streaming where artists can use AI to produce music and put it on streaming platforms. However, the virality without a brand and the right systems to monetize music won’t do much.
“I am yet to see an artist who has produced an album with AI and most of the songs are hits. Just one song might go viral. Every artist has their own style and AI is generic. How I compose songs and put melodies is what creates my brand and identity,” he says.
Algorithmic challenges
Most AI music platforms are developed in Western countries which do not reflect the realities and music genres in Kenya.
“We need to appreciate how we make our music and not let AI absorb us. AI has not mastered how we make our music because most of them were trained in Western countries. I have tried generating our own styles but it’s not working because the vocals are off. We can use AI to fuse our style with others but we need to have our identity in our music,” Producer Totti says in conclusion.
