As the music industry grapples with how to integrate and evaluate AI work, a third of artists are already using it for some form of inspiration.
A new study conducted by Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music found that 33% of participants “use AI to generate initial ideas, melodies, or reference tracks that are later reworked.” Perhaps most surprising is that almost as many put it into the final product — about 26 percent of artists “use AI to support full tracks in the final work.”
Mark Ethier, who helped conduct the research, said: “If we had conducted this study 18 months ago, these numbers would have been much lower.” Hollywood Reporter“And from that perspective it’s very shocking.”
A somewhat smaller percentage, 18 percent, will play with existing tools in the build process but keep them outside of the released track.
But contrary to conventional wisdom, so were the new musicians less Most likely to use AI: Artists who were “just starting out” used AI “in any way” at a rate of 56 percent while “full-time” creators did so at a rate of 92 percent.
The study was conducted by the Berklee Emerging Artistic Technology Lab (BEATL), where Ethier serves as executive director, as part of the AIMS: AI Music Summit that the school just held on its campus on Wednesday and Friday that focused on AI music in video, rather than just artists recording sounds; The numbers, of course, can be different in that population.
The Berkeley study was conducted on more than 1,000 people associated with the music industry, from artists to marketers, music supervisors and video creators.
said Jim Lucchese, Berkeley’s president Hollywood Reporter He saw the numbers as evidence not only of sharply divided opinions about AI among artists but differing attitudes even within the group of those embracing the technology.
“We’re seeing a high level of individual creativity in how to use AI differently, from a compositing tool to just enhancing your skills.”
The study comes at a time when the music industry is grappling with how generations will use artificial intelligence at work and how artists should be compensated when they do. On Friday, the American Federation of Musicians filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group over the settlement the giants reached with AI music companies Suno and Udio, alleging that the companies “refused to compensate musicians whose work is fed into AI machines for profit.”
In keeping with the large minority who use it for initial ideas, 31% of Berkeley participants use AI for “lyric generation,” most likely in final work.
However, those who incorporate AI into their music may limit their potential audience. A THRA Frost School of Music survey conducted in the fall found that 52 percent of respondents were “not interested” in listening to their favorite artists’ music produced with the help of artificial intelligence.
In addition to well-known artists incorporating AI into their work, the past year has seen successes from entirely artificial acts that don’t involve playing instruments, from Breaking Rust’s “Walk My Walk” to Saxboy Billy’s TikTok hit “The Puerto Rico Song.”
The music industry has been particularly hard hit by AI changes given the industry’s long history of incorporating new technologies coupled with the fact that generational AI can be harder to spot than in video, which even now can still sometimes descend into the uncanny valley.
Proponents argue that the technology and sampling have long been part of the audio landscape. Opponents say releasing music derived primarily from what someone else has written is neither original nor ethical.
As with podcasts, video plays an increasing role in launching a successful music career. More than 75% of those Berkeley asked said they believe it “directly shapes career outcomes.”
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