Technology isn’t the enemy of handmade music

Video did not kill the radio star. And AI won’t kill human music stars. Don’t believe otherwise. Here is why.

Hone your skills. “Horn played by human mesmerising bot.”

He was so right. “You can only connect the dots looking backwards,” is the most famous quote that tech innovation giant Steve Jobs left for us. So let’s do this by looking at an old career move by Bob Dylan and how this looks today in connection to a recent, rather strange policy announcement by music/musician marketplace Bandcamp.

In an event I consider a first “Musicindustry peak Anti AI”-Event, music platform Bandcamp has issued a rather strong-worded statement saying “Music and audio that is generated wholly or in substantial part by AI is not permitted on Bandcamp.” Beyond that, Bandcamp even walks into muddy waters by continuing, “we reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI-generated.” Well, good luck suspecting going forward, folks. I’m really wondering how you will figure out where good technology ends and “bad AI technology” starts in times when what has once been the recording-tech of vast high-end studios can now be packed on a single laptop full of apps; when entire show bands play “on click” via headset during (stadium) live performances (incl. in ear directions via mixing desk direction); when Apple now started offering its entire (and in itself carrying AI elements already) Apple Creator Studio for a mere 129 USD/per year subscriber fee. And so on …

I believe Bandcamp’s decision to publish an “Anti AI” policy was wrong. It won’t age well. Their announcement, in its definitions, is blurry, and their attempt to “ban” AI will rather create more issues for them than it solves. Mostly, as the platform will run into continuous massive troubles defining where to draw the line between “made with AI” and truly “not made using AI”. Also, it created a subtext that puts the use of technology in creating music into a “sleazy” corner. Bandcamp probably decided out of fear and out of sentimentality — mainly driven by those loud voices within their community of musicians that believe AI is the devil and will take all their jobs. Immediately. Since the day before yesterday, 100% sure :-)

Understandably, the decision makers at Bandcamp want to protect their business case, driven by highly creative music makers in any way possible. Hence, given them proclaiming to be a platform for soulful “healing” music, their “Anti AI” statement should also be understood as a marketing move to differentiate themselves from the competition (as it mostly is for the streaming sector, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc.) However, I believe the Bandcamp management got carried away on the recent wave of “Anti AI”-resentments pouring through the various layers of the fabulous worlds of music, making them miss two fundamental aspects while putting together their new policy. One: AI in music recently got a bad rap for “flooding” streaming platforms with AI-created music that has very little to do with the music sold on Bandcamp. Exceptions based on curiosity over novelty aside, there we are talking mostly about rather generic “elevator music” when looking at these AI success phenomena. Albeit Bandcamp isn’t the platform for such music at all. The people who listen and buy via Bandcamp go there to specifically support certain genres and artists, or want to dig new artists serving the premises of the genres and messages they prefer in music.

Two: Especially musicians have a long history of blaming others for every thinkable mistake that happened in their careers. You can fill an entire wide wall of bookshelves with stories of musicians blaming everyone but themselves for missteps and misfortunes in their careers, with suits being the bogeymen of choice for the most, narrowly followed by all forms of (recording) technologies and music marketing or distribution companies.

And while I do not want to say that business-wise, there haven’t been a lot of very bad things happening to many good musicians, I’m still in absolute favour of using technological innovations and harvesting new business opportunities to successfully push musicians’ careers forward. Think Kraftwerk. Or Jean-Michel Jarre. Giorgio Moroder. Dr. Dre or RZA, by way of example, for the thousands of super successful rap producers globally. Moby or Plastikman, aka Richie Hawtin, by way of example, for the thousands of nowadays celebrated and beloved other House and Techno Producers, DJ’s, etc. Or, just recently becoming a global phenomenon, an artist like Anyma who is pushing the merger of musician, producer, visual artist, and technology connoisseur even further. But back to connecting dots for a second.

Enter Exhibit A: Bob Dylan. On July 25, 1965, Dylan got booed and yelled at during his performance at the Newport Folk Festival. Until then, Newport had been one of his safe and secure birth grounds for his career. This happened for the single reason that this time on stage, he had dared to use an electric guitar instead of an acoustic one. At this time, hard to believe from today’s viewpoint, Dylan had pushed the envelope for music technology, performing using an electric guitar. Fans accustomed to Dylan’s acoustic-only orchestrated protest songs viewed his electric performance as a betrayal of the folk movement’s values.

However, Dylan, unimpressed, pushed forward with using instruments involving electricity to generate music. It’s fair to say that the rest of his success story is well-known history by now. Also, for the avoidance of doubt, a couple of decades later, in April 2017, the same Bob Dylan received the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” A first for a musician to ever receive this award.

So, pause for a second, everyone, and do the math yourself on how well the technology boycott attempt towards Dylan’s electric guitars went.

When it comes to AI in music, going forward, I bet the game is integration rather than exclusion. With musicians prospering the most by re-focusing on what makes them unique, what defines their own personal sweet spot between their artistic vision and the audiences that love what they do.

Does this all mean I have given up on music as a profession for the talented already? On the beauty of music? Definitely: Not. I swear I love music from the bottom of my heart, and I ever will. I have the most respect for artists playing live, for artists recording music, for composers, performers, showwomen and showmen, entertainers, acoustic storytellers, and beat wizards. However, keep up with the times, and time won’t pass you by.

Some opportunities for a bright future as musicians/performing artists in the time of AI:

Focus on your craft. Hone your skills. For the most part, things that technology can successfully substitute make the handmade original more desirable and valuable to humans. And it shows already that live music, in the sense of humans who have mastered an instrument and/or their voice performing, will become even more valuable. (So-called “Hidden gigs” or “Test shows” where well-known big names perform in front of very limited audience sizes in tiny venues, prove this for a long time, btw. That’s where the real record prices are paid for tickets regularly.)

Focus on building your brand. Find your audience, the one that appreciates what you do. But stay honest and do not mix it all up. Some folk might like what you do for other reasons than your intrinsic motivation. One truth, maybe brutal as it is for some: The way humans react to certain types of music isn’t always tied to baskets like “good music” being automatically something handmade by humans and so-called “bad music” made by/originating from machines. Every single rave, every single house party, every single techno event, every karaoke night, every party pushing performance of a lip synching playback act proves this for decades. Often, especially music is just about having a good time, getting entertained. Platforms/concepts like “OnlyFans,” Kickstarter, or Bandcamp, as well, are of tremendous help to monetize your audience’s fandom. (Btw., I personally think that those interested in understanding how it all can work out without selling out to their values can learn a lot from what Moby has been doing for a long time.)

Debate what matters. Unpopular fact: After all, creating music has a lot to do with algorithms and, by extension, mathematics. A melody that sticks is a melody that sticks. No matter if put into the world by a human or by a machine. The question of how humans perceive music is something neuroscience is about to explore further, and will also play a relevant role in future perceptions of music (E.g., Binaural beats, anyone?). So, humans need to face more debate about how we are going to define what we consider human-made music, and what not. This can be done, as it has been done numerous times before. After all, in 2026, no one yells at August Ponthier for bringing an electric guitar on stage and refusing to consider her music not being worthy of the “folk music” label based on such an orchestration. Also, in that context, it will be worth debating further what makes humans love the live experience so much.

This is where the soul comes in. Bandcamp’s website states that the company’s mission is to “help spread the healing power of music”. What a great thing to do. However, let us all remember: The currently ca. 8.29 billion people on planet earth represent ca. 8.29 billion ideas and concepts of what a soul is, what soul means. Thanks to its ability to transcend between both halves of our brains while also touching our hearts, successful music represents that certain music has touched a lot of souls, opened people up, and reached them emotionally. This ability of music should never be curbed by concepts or policy decisions that limit how such music comes into the world.

Innovate further and further. E.g., Blockchain technology can and will continue to help and improve the benefits of artists’ brands and help with originality. Every minute spent on focusing on the opportunities created by this is spent more usefully than by opposing an already happening triumph by AI that, anyhow, couldn’t ever be stopped by musicians.

Let the bots be bots. Maybe they will serve you well one day. — Since the invention of recording music, the consumption of music has risen. AI won’t stop that. Nonetheless, careers have been built on uniqueness and talent by those able to embrace and utilise new technologies. In April 2022, almost four years ago already, ABBA came back as a show of four avatars with “ABBA Voyage”. The program is still on today, with ticket prices generally ranging from £38.50 to over £200. Rather sooner than later, with the help of AI, such opportunities to serve audiences will become available for every artist, in every bar and living room. One can easily figure out for themselves what opportunities that will bring for any musician’s retirement funding.

Make the effort. Just for the record: I’m not saying it will be easy. But, honestly, it never has been.

“Come gather ‘round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You’ll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you is worth savin’

And you better start swimmin’

Or you’ll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin.”

Bob Dylan