David Guetta releases music with Eminem - produced by AI, while Nick Cave rages when fans make AI versions of his music.
The entire music world is affected by the advancement of AI technology, and now Swedish songwriters testify that the industry is facing a shift.
- Many people are a bit scared and think it's nasty.
Maybe you should be, but I don't think so, says songwriter and artist Patrik Berger, who believes that in the near future AI will make music as good as a human:
- I really think we will be deceived by it, but I don't think it's a major problem.
Future "swan branding"
Patrik Berger believes that AI can be a tool for songwriters, and he believes that music written by humans will become more desirable in the future.
John Engelbert of Johnossi agrees:
- You may have to make a kind of swan label, so you know what it is you are actually buying.
Which makes the human work more desirable;
the few individuals who have the guts to walk the line and actually go the hard way by learning to play guitar for 10,000 hours instead of letting an AI do it.
Engelbert is also not worried about AI taking over the songwriting profession, pointing out that the technology has already been there for a while.
- In the end, I don't know if it becomes easier to create a hit just because you get help from an AI, it's still incredibly damn hard.
We humans are not so easily deceived, we want to feel heart and pain.
Right for the music industry
Cultural support will become an even more important issue in the future, observes John Engelbert - who believes that today's major players in the music industry have a great responsibility in the ongoing shift.
While Patrik Berger thinks that the music industry "has itself to blame":
- When everything has to be measurable, we have no chance against it.
Then we can stop that pursuit, and instead devote ourselves to what we are meant to do;
to create unique new creative things, instead of chasing perfection.