AI Music Creation Is Here: Will It Change Everything?
A friend introduced me to AI music creator Suno.com. It's ridiculously good. Certain segments of music production will never be the same.
This weekend was Maker Faire Orlando, and as has become something of a tradition, I rented a house with friends* and fellow hackers Carl and Mr. Four Bits. As it turns out, Mr. Four Bits enjoys potato chips… which will become important later in this story.
It’s also important to note that before seeing Dune Part 2, I had ChatGPT write a song about the Quisnatch Haderach (SP?) and Cadillacs in the voice of rapper Ludacris in circa December 2023. Results are as follows:
The song was certainly hilarious, and while I can imagine Luda’ rapping it in his characteristic drawn-out Dirty South style, having him actually sing it would be better. Fast-forward to November 2024 Jeremy/Carl/Mr. 4 Bits at a rather strange house in Orlando–with possibly some alcohol involved–and Carl informed me about AI music generator suno.com.
He also told me that he signed up for their ~$10/month plan that allows him to generate more songs on demand, which at the time seemed like a rather wasteful expense from someone who is typically very careful with his finances.
It took me about 5 minutes to understand his motivation. You can literally tell it to make up a song about anything and it will output what sounds like a well-produced song, jingle, rap, or whatever you specify. I had ChatGPT format (my?) Cadillac of Destiny song for suno and it produced the following:
I soon sent it to Jackson, a talented musician, who described this song as “slappin” (which he admits may be an older idiom, though one that may have arisen after my peak hipness–roughly equivalent to Florida’s Mt. Dora). As a musician, he was bummed out to see this commoditization of music, though did think it was cool that I had a neat idea that I never would have followed through with otherwise come to life.
Is this my creation? (I’d say no) Is it my creativity? (partially, yes) Where does this leave actual musicians? (I have thoughts–read on).
The song sounds really, really good, though we weren’t able to duplicate the characteristic southern stylistic word-slurring of Mr. Ludacris. I’d see the piece as more of a rap/pop duo song. So maybe there is hope for performing artists, especially at the higher end talent-wise, but what about those that need a jingle for a low-end commercial or YouTube video background? It’s going to be tough going for artists serving such markets.
As it just so happens, Mr. Four Bits sells soldering kits, and was eating a significant number of potato chips on that particular evening. I therefore generated a jingle for Four Bit Industries, adding in the requirement that it also talk about potato chips. The results are truly remarkable (fair warning, this song is so catchy it’s been in my head for the last three days):
Where Does This All End?
Re: audio production, that’s an easy answer in my mind. I’m thinking the days of low-end audio production numbered at best, in the same way that it seems the low-end of illustration and writing is going the way of the printed magazine. The medium is still around, but not in the same way as, say, in 2005. Suno.io is certainly fun to goof around with among friends, but one could see this as being big business now and into the future.
Further out, Jackson informed me that the Dune rap song needed a video. I’d be willing to bet that suno.com is working on such a feature, and that there is likely a way to do so right now.
On a larger level, content creation is changing. I think there will still be jobs in the near future, but the trend seems to be fewer across the board. Content creators will have to be very savvy to properly navigate this world or consider pivoting to something new or related.
*Really, Carl handled it. I informed Carl he was my friend for purposes of fee avoidance on PayPal, but if you’re reading this buddy, I’m happy to call you my friend, even beyond the confines of saving online transaction fees.
**Jackson - cousin and collaborator
***Incidentally, I once went to a Ludacris concert. He went on rather later than I expected, and IIRC had just had some sort of spat with his sponsor Pepsi. So when he came out next to gigantic branding, he had some very rude things to say about them, and encouraged the crowd to do the same. If and when I take on sponsors for this Substack, I herby pledge to not stand on stage and yell “insert rude remark here… use your imagination” if we somehow decide to part ways.
****I don’t produce music professionally, but it has become something of a hobby as of late.