Is AI Ruining the Integrity of Music?
- jaybroderick
- Feb 10
- 3 min read
By: Michael Drukarsh - It is not unusual for bands of all genres to stretch their talents and experiment with different musical styles. Black Sabbath dabbled in the softer side of music with songs like “Solitude” and “Changes”. Kiss had a huge hit in 1976 with the sappy (but awesome) ballad "Beth", reaching #7 on the Billboard top 100 and then they went even further astray with Disco Dynasty in 1979 and Melodic Mood Music on The Elder in 1981. Even the mighty Metallica went slightly off the rails with the experimental 2011 release of LULU.
Whether it comes from trying to ride the wave of a current trend or simply a band maturing and growing, changing the sound can be very rewarding for both the musician and the fans, or, as in the case with LULU, a complete disaster on both ends. Currently, there are a lot of bands experimenting with completely different genres, or so it seems.
Youtube has become flooded with new music that takes established bands and reinvents them as 50’s do wop, 60’s psychedlic and even country & western. Unfortunately, these musical masquerades do not come from the actual band, nor are they performed by other artists reinterpreting the music. Instead, people are using AI to generate sound-like voices and instruments and then genre bending the music.
A quick search of Youtube will deliver such oddities as “The Black Sabbaths” Paranoid as if it was recorded in the 1950s or if you prefer you can get it as a 1960s rockabilly bluesy style. Led Zeppelin’s "Stairway to Heaven" can now be heard as a 1940’s swing song and “The Iron Maidens” will give you a 60s vibe with Powerslave reinterpreted.
The list of bands and songs that have been recreated and reinterpreted by AI is very long and will certainly get longer. Even the Beatles are not immune to this fast growing trend with Revolver going the way of 80s hair metal.
While there must be some talent and ingenuity in the process, the fact that whomever is creating these songs and videos, without the use of actual singers and musicians is disturbing. Not only are they taking classic albums and artists and removing the soul of the music, they are creating content and possibly monetizing music that doesn’t belong to them.
Like most new technology, AI has permeated the digital world with little in the way of understanding and regulation. Musicians have fought for years to maintain control of their music and to ensure that others are not profiting or more detrimental, taking away profits of a band's blood sweat and tears. So many musicians, in all different genres, have lost revenue due to their music being hijacked and used without any compensation. Now, with the rapid advancements of AI, it appears that the entire music industry is in jeopardy.
There will always be tribute acts and homages paid to current and past artists. Done by live singers and musicians, these accolades paid to the artist are appreciated and seen as a sign of respect and honor. AI generated, generic sounding, compilations take away from the heart and soul of the music, turning what was created with hard work and dedication to the art into 1s and 0s that lack any form of human emotions leaving the listener with nothing more than hollow feeling in the pit of their stomach.
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