While I appreciate the authors optimistic take on Suno as a tool for empowerment, I believe his analysis misses the grim economic reality of the music industry as it has existed for the last two decades.
He draws a distinction between "professional musicians" and AI, but this ignores the crucial split between the "Stars" (the top 1%) and the "bread-and-butter" working musicians. The latter group has been starving for twenty years, long before generative AI arrived. They were effectively wiped out when DJs replaced live bands in clubs and when "stars" began touring with backing tracks instead of bringing session players along. That destruction was economic, not technological.
Regarding the "Stars": they won't necessarily be "forced to be better". Instead, they will likely use AI to improve their margins. They can now replace their composers, arrangers, and eventually even their own vocal labor with AI models trained on their past work. The lifecycle of a star is already much shorter than it used to be; AI won't change that, but it will make them cheaper to operate.
Finally, the hope that listeners will "filter through the noise" to find human connection contradicts current user habit studies. Spotify has successfully turned music into a commodity. The rise of anonymous "Mood" and "Chill" playlists shows that the vast majority of consumers already treat music as background noise and are neither able nor interested in distinguishing between human and computer-generated content. The industry isn't waiting for listeners to discern the difference; it's banking on the fact that they won't care.
Rochus•1mo ago
He draws a distinction between "professional musicians" and AI, but this ignores the crucial split between the "Stars" (the top 1%) and the "bread-and-butter" working musicians. The latter group has been starving for twenty years, long before generative AI arrived. They were effectively wiped out when DJs replaced live bands in clubs and when "stars" began touring with backing tracks instead of bringing session players along. That destruction was economic, not technological.
Regarding the "Stars": they won't necessarily be "forced to be better". Instead, they will likely use AI to improve their margins. They can now replace their composers, arrangers, and eventually even their own vocal labor with AI models trained on their past work. The lifecycle of a star is already much shorter than it used to be; AI won't change that, but it will make them cheaper to operate.
Finally, the hope that listeners will "filter through the noise" to find human connection contradicts current user habit studies. Spotify has successfully turned music into a commodity. The rise of anonymous "Mood" and "Chill" playlists shows that the vast majority of consumers already treat music as background noise and are neither able nor interested in distinguishing between human and computer-generated content. The industry isn't waiting for listeners to discern the difference; it's banking on the fact that they won't care.