Virtual Insanity: Discussing AI’s involvement in Music
By Samuel Allan
Over the past few years, AI’s dominance in our lives has risen. Amidst this, Suno, an AI music company, has a case to make for generative artificial intelligence in this creative art form.
In a 20VC interview, the Co-Founder and CEO of Suno, Mikey Shulman, professed that the eponymous AI enables anyone to be a “much more active participant in music,” with a clear vision to bring more music to more people. To benefit the music industry, Shulman’s vision is to mimic the “much larger” video game industry, since video games are “interactive,” “engaging,” and “enriching experiences,” while music “should be”. Furthermore, he notes how “people don’t really enjoy the process of making music” since it “takes too much time” to learn an instrument or production software.
Shulman is insinuating that music must change because it is not engaging enough for our brains or enjoyable enough for our time. However, the AI’s capacity is drip-fed to consumers through a subscription-based service; a user can create 10 songs a day before having to pay to unlock more perks, such as the “best and most personal” model. This illuminates Shulman’s real aim: to sell. As professional musician Adam Neely states, Shulman and other AI investors are using generative AI “as a means of wealth extraction,” targeting music to sell “meaningful consumption experiences”.
Shulman is insinuating that music must change because it is not engaging enough for our brains or enjoyable enough for our time
In a 2009 BET interview, Prince commented: “It’s more important that kids learn how to actually play the guitar. It’s a tough instrument, it’s not easy, and it took me a long time”. One of the greatest guitarists in history was not born able to play. While talent does exist, effort, practice, and determination will always prosper—which can be “frustrating at first, but you just have to stick with it”. The problem with Suno is how it completely eradicates struggle. Listing “Impatience” as a virtue on its website, Suno’s method is clear: pump out as much as you can, as quickly and easily as possible.
The abolition of struggle is directly counter-intuitive to music as an art form. In 1937, during a jam session, a teenage saxophonist lost his place, leading drummer Jo Jones to throw a cymbal at his feet, embarrassing the young musician. Without this challenge, the saxophonist would not have worked extremely hard to hone his craft to become the legendary jazz musician Charlie Parker, who shaped jazz and, ultimately, the music we listen to today.
Suno, on the other hand, does not challenge. Within its code, it is designed to undoubtedly agree with its user. Musicians promoting AI favor its ability to act like another contributor, but if the robotic “yes-man” cannot challenge, is it really an effective tool?
Furthermore, Suno cannot create. A lawsuit against Suno describes its training method as “copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale”. Besides Suno’s legal issues, the AI is trained on pre-existing musical data, meaning any listener of AI music can find what Suno has reshuffled in the discography of history. Listeners enjoying a fast, funky drumbeat could try Tower of Power; if they prefer a slow, soothing method, they could try Sade. Thus, any music made by AI exists, in some shape or form, by real musicians.
The abolition of struggle is directly counter-intuitive to music as an art form
A favored argument for Suno lies in its accessibility. Anyone with access to the internet can utilize the AI resource, even if a user can only access a worse version of the AI if they refuse to pay. However, with the same device and internet connection, one can find free music lessons, free production software, and free music-writing tools—all available for those determined enough to use them. Not only this, but there are incredible charities determined to bring music and joy to those previously unable to access it. To champion Suno’s accessibility as original is utterly futile, since anyone interested in making music can make music.
Of course, this is all the tip of the iceberg. Generative AI profiteers, across all creative mediums, sell users a product that covers a leak instead of fixing the wall. If the money used to invest in Suno was invested into music education in state schools, we would live in a more musical society. There is no doubt that financial background can be one of the biggest barriers to music; the money to lower the cost is there, however, those accumulating it have no interest in doing so.
To conclude, music is built on human expression and connection as a language we all understand. While AI infiltrates music production—in which it has no real place—the true “meaningful consumption experiences” will always occur with real musicians, especially at live events. Live music, amidst an attention economy and greedy corporations, will continue to bring people together as it always has.
Image: Ars Electronica via Flickr
