What Happens to Songwriters When AI Can Generate Music? It was the closing of a chapter, and the birth of something new. Audiences hated its sinusoidal wave lack of nuance, and some claimed it was “the end of music.” That seems ludicrous and pearl-clutching now, and I worship the chapter of electrified instruments afterward (thank you Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Chuck Berry), but in a way, they were right. The debut of the theremin - the first electronic instrument - playing the part of a lead violin in an orchestra was scandalous and fear-evoking. While I agree there are parallels between the invention of the synthesizer and AI, there are stark differences, too. Yes, the honeymoon of new possibilities is sexy, but let’s not pretend this is benefiting the human artist as much as corporate clients who’d rather pull a slot machine lever to generate a jingle than hire a human. It’s almost like cigarette companies in the 1920s saying cigarettes are good for you. In the recent article “What Happens To Songwriters When AI Can Generate Music,” Alex Mitchell offers a rosy view of a future of AI-composed music coexisting in perfect barbershop harmony with human creators - but there is a conflict of interest here, as Mitchell is the CEO of an app that does precisely that.
