Will AI Pop Ever Go Mainstream?
Written by Matthew J. Kaplan
Here at Haus of Fog, we’ve been talking a lot about the relationship between Art and Artificial Intelligence. Most people seem to be accepting (knowingly or not) how many of the images we see on a daily basis are now being created with AI – but what about music? How do we all feel about that? Will AI-generated music soon be topping the charts and worming our ears? To help answer these questions, I talked to musician and Future Moments co-founder, Gary Levitt.
Some people are terrified of AI. Others would say that AI is just the next step in music. Where do you stand?
I see it as the next big step in technology. Digital audio has been developing exponentially for years. You’ll always have people poo-pooing new things no matter what that new thing is. Those people are usually mostly 35 and older. Younger people mostly embrace the new. There’s something about the beginner’s mind that’s more open, creative and explorative. If you hand an app to a 5-year-old they will figure out how to use it by tapping around excitedly, exploring, unafraid to press a wrong button. The non-beginner’s mind will hold the app at arm’s length and ask how to use it. I’ve always been inspired by the former.
People have been copying other artists since the dawn of pop music. Is there a difference between an A&R rep finding and grooming a sound-alike vs. asking AI to do that work for you?
I think you’re referring to AI Music generation from apps like Suno, Udio and others. This is fascinating stuff. It will generate songs for you based on the genre or feel you want. It’s the same as we do now with images and AI videos. I’ve fed my original lyrics into it and generated AI songs using my words. It’s neat to hear my songs in a new style, all sounding professionally recorded. Is it good? That’s subjective. Is it groundbreaking? Not yet. Can it become that? Yes indeed, I believe so.
Haus of Fog’s Ashley Good recently dropped some songs she co-wrote with AI. Have you heard them? What do you think?
I did. It looks like she did what I just mentioned, AI music using her lyrics. She credits AI with the performance, but I would say that AI is doing more than performing, it’s writing the parts of each instrument, the sound of the vocalist, and the translation of the rhythm of the lyrics and how they’re sung. Sometimes it changes the phrasing of lyrics in a way I would never have thought of. It’s pretty neat!
If it's so easy for AI to replicate a specific artist, is that because AI is so amazing, or is it because some artists are without nuance or originality, making them easy to copy?
AI music generation is at its infancy. I do think it will get very creative based on the text prompts given and the ability to take in more detail. Imagine prompting it bar by bar and instrument by instrument. It can get very good. It can get as good as the human imagination. The main thing I think that’s good for humans making music right now is that AI is perfect. The voices are perfectly in tune, the instruments are played perfectly in time, so there’s not much soul. Do I think most people will notice? Unfortunately no. Nevertheless, there’s something about bands and songwriters like the Beatles that hit a core with humans all over the world. Nobody really knows why or what it is. Maybe the melodies, maybe the people singing? What it wasn’t was the perfection. It’s not perfect music.
Their intonation is sometimes off, the vocal doubling is sometimes off. When AI can generate imperfection, it may get really human.
The amazing thing about AI technology is that it’s better than humans at recognizing patterns in anything digitized. Anything digital is a pattern of 1’s and 0’s. Your unique voice after being digitized is just a pattern of 1’s and 0’s. Heart scans, cell scans, cells mutating over time, it’s all patterns AI technology can learn and see far better than the current human eye and tools.
Because of this, we’re gonna see huge breakthroughs in medicine and biotech. It’s already happening. AI technology can now recognize patterns in cells that turn cancerous, among many other things. There have already been huge leaps in the medical field that are making me very optimistic about us being able to live way longer, or even forever, by replacing aging cells with younger ones. I’m digressing though... Back to audio!
Does the average person care that AI is being used to write and record music?
I think people will care, but I don’t think they’ll notice. Spotify is already doing it to save some pennies. If you play an artist and then let Spotify auto-pick further music, eventually it throws in some AI-generated music and it gives it an AI-generated artist name. I dare anyone to pick it out. Unfortunately, I don’t think most can.
Photo from Future-Moments.com
How do you personally use AI in music creation?
It’s nice to generate sounds in an instant. I love hearing my songs in different genres. Hearing how it interprets the flow and cadence of my lyrics. I enjoy creating music, so I don’t want AI to play bass for me, or be my guitar player. That’s the fun part! It’s harder than pressing a button, but it’s way more rewarding.
You have two young children. If they pursue music, are you concerned that AI is a shortcut that will deprive them of all the unique discoveries we found along our more traditional music paths? What will they gain and what will they miss?
Technology has provided us with many shortcuts. Do I want to go back to a typewriter and whiteout or am I happy with a word processor and spell check? These tools help me stay creative instead of wondering where I put the whiteout. AI is a tool, it all depends on how you use it. I think the next generation will use it as a tool to create music that’s never been heard before.
What's next for AI? How might it affect music over the next decade?
I think it’s going to change pop music. Artists that have auto-tuned vocals and no strong personality will go by the wayside since anyone can generate it from their smartphones. Why would they listen to it if they can easily generate it? I think AI music is going to bring a revolution in music. We’ll soon have popular music with lots of personality, imperfection, soul and spirit. I hope so at least!
Gary Levitt is the co-founder of Future Moments which makes top-notch apps for content creation. LEarn more at future-moments.com.
Gary is also a musician who's released 6 records under the band name Setting Sun.
Matthew J. Kaplan
Matthew J. Kaplan is a playwright, filmmaker, musician, and now, due to a clerical error, a contributor to Haus of Fog. There are a lot of NYC stories, but Matt likes to tell the ones that are a bit off the beaten pavement. You'll see some of those stories here, and the rest can be found at matthewjkaplan.com
Instagram: @matthewjkaplan