Artificial Intelligence in Music, pt. 1

Dear Students,

I decided to start off 2026 with a topic that isn’t at all controversial (cue sarcasm): Artificial Intelligence (AI) in music. I understand that everyone has the right to their own opinion on the matter; however, as this is my blog and you are my captive audience, I feel comfortable sharing my own opinion and making a case for it. It is based on my current understanding of the industry, and if I’ve missed or misunderstood any aspect of the issue, it was not my intent and I would be delighted to gain a deeper understanding. 

AI has taken over the music industry in three domains: songwriting, session musicianship, and producing. For a song to make it to the radio or a certain streaming-platform-that-shall-not-be-named, the songwriter(s) must compose a melody, write lyrics, and develop chordal harmonies. The songwriter must then either be able to perform the song solo, supplement with session musicians, or hire session musicians to perform it entirely. This often depends on the skill of the songwriter, the instrumentation in the songwriter’s vision, and the availability and cost of session musicians. Finally, the songwriter must work with a producer to track, mix, and master the song. This entire process takes hours of work, and can be extremely expensive. AI has inundated nearly every aspect of our lives over the last two years, and music is no exception. There are apps (no, I'm not naming names!) that, using AI and a few prompts, will create an entire song, fully produced, beginning to end in a few moments. Just give it a topic, a genre, maybe a few lyrics and instrumentation cues, and boom! It’s ready to go. And it sounds pretty darn good. And if you’re not prepared to give the reins entirely to a robot, you can utilize AI at any step of the song creation process to grease the wheels of what can be a pretty tedious endeavor. 

Among musicians, this capability is pretty polarizing. I’ve talked to musicians who are scornful of the entire premise, and indignant at how AI music is “taking over the algorithm” on certain popular streaming platforms. I’ve talked to musicians who find AI a handy tool to move through writer's block. I’ve talked to musicians who are tempted by the convenience, but ultimately are against it. I’ve seen entire Facebook groups dedicated to tips and tricks for optimizing your fully AI song prompts. I’ve talked to musicians who swear that no way can AI create a song that holds a candle to human creativity, at least not from a GOOD songwriter, but my goodness I’ve heard AI songs that could have fooled me. It begs the question: is there something undefinable about human art that AI will never capture, or will the algorithm keep improving to the point that the difference will be indistinguishable? And if so, we will stubbornly cling to the idea that there IS some kind of spiritual difference and, before we know it, start arguing for the existence of the human soul?? 

Frankly, I’m not terribly worried about the growth of AI in music. I think AI will get better. I think it will eventually create music not only indistinguishable from human music, but music that is more profound, complex, and catchy. I think AI will even be able to mimic those little human imperfections that we believe make us unique. It will be up to humans to value humanity on its own merit, not because of any kind of superiority or even because of any noticeable difference. I think some people will choose to give up the tedium of “organic” song creation, but others will find the journey more important than the destination. I think folks who write elevator music, commercial jingles, and those terribly annoying melodies you have to listen to while on hold will most likely be out of a job. Probably a lot of session musicians as well. I think eventually most of the recorded music we hear passively going about our lives will be created by AI. Producers may find a smaller pool of clients willing to pay to have their music brought to life, but those who do will hold on tight to its significance. And I think we will see a great renaissance of live music. If the recorded market is dead, musicians will bring their craft to live audiences who want to hear music created and performed by humans. Those who truly value human music will attend live shows, and buy cds and merchandise because they are intentional fans, rather than passive listeners. I don’t think, from an artistic standpoint, we should feel threatened by AI in music unless we are unwilling to adapt. And isn’t that how it always was? Recorded music is a relatively new phenomenon in the context of humanity. It isn’t what makes us musicians and so I don’t think we aren’t losing much. Maybe instead, we are gaining more person-to-person human connection. And that makes me feel very hopeful. 

I do have a part 2 coming where I‘ll go into whether, practically speaking, AI in music is a good idea. (If you want a preview as to my opinion, know that I wrote this post sans AI!) In the meantime, what do you think? Do you feel threatened by AI in music? Excited by the convenience? Leave a comment or shoot me an email - I’d love to hear from you. 

Warmly, Dr. Jane