Jack Antonoff isn’t holding back on his thoughts on music makers using AI.
The music producer and lead singer of Bleachers shared a lengthy message (below) on his Instagram account on Wednesday, saying that there is “nothing more embarrassing than thinking there is a way to improve this sacred process” of creating music.
“What we do has become an ancient ritual,” he wrote. “You don’t have to write the music, you don’t have to record it, you don’t have to get the band out and play it. However, for us, the idea of improving what we do is to completely miss the point that compels us in the first place. We (me, the band and everyone I know, honestly) have never looked for this work to get any faster or easier. We’ve never been frustrated by the randomness and magic it takes. We do it for exactly that reason – and without the process itself::: nothingness.”
The frequent Taylor Swift collaborator added that the industry’s “bad actors” will “eventually reveal themselves through the fraud” they produce.
He added: “So, for everyone who is upset about the new ways you can fake the art industry, by all means drive right off this cliff. We’re really happy to see you go.” “Future generations will engage in the ancient ritual of writing, recording and performing as it comes to us from God.”
“So, as we embark on this strange juncture, where the bad actors will willingly reveal themselves through foolishness, and the struggling greats will spread themselves thinner to make an honest living out of what they were put on earth to do, we (I, the band, and frankly everyone I know) remain more dedicated than ever to uncovering what comes from within. Writing music, recording it, performing it—that’s it. There’s nothing more embarrassing than thinking there’s a way to make this sacred process better, Antonov continued, calling out the creators of the AI music. “Atheist whores.”
“It’s also interesting to me how out of touch screaming is about pursuing this nightmare,” he concluded. “The new artists I know aren’t really interested in anything that doesn’t come from within.”
While many artists have spoken out against the technology, such as Antonoff, Billie Eilish, and Ed Sheeran, many other artists have embraced the use of artificial intelligence in their music, including Grimes, David Guetta, and Liam Gallagher.
And the AI train is only gathering steam with Suno, the music industry’s most prominent AI music generation platform, sharing earlier this year that it surpassed two million paid subscribers.
Autumn Rowe, a professional songwriter credited with songs by Jon Batiste, Dua Lipa and Ava Max, recently said: Hollywood Reporter She is still skeptical of AI music but is starting to experiment with Suno slightly.
“I have concerns about AI, and I worry about young writers using Suno before they’ve spent many hours crafting songs,” Rowe said. “But I think AI in music will continue to become more prominent, and I think it can help writers have more impact if they can do a lot of that production ahead of time themselves.”
