Unless it is a live symphony or similar, I'm done with new releases. If it isn't damned AI, it is autotune or digital mixes of digital audio from performers who have never or will never interact with each other. That isn't music, IMO.

I just saw Sombr on SNL and was really impressed.

He's only 20, but seems really talented.

I saw his performance and was not unimpressed, but I'd bet money he uses autotune. If he does not and you can validate that, I will absolutely stand corrected. That said, I will never support an artist who does unless it is for mockery purposes. Yes, really. Today's performers have so many crutches that I don't apologize for not supporting them unless they manage to learn their instruments and/or write and/or sing their own compositions. At least learn some basics, and not rely on the teams of producers to make their music (voice) sound passable.

my local news was talking about this and played a clip (of Walk My Walk). I wasn't paying attention and this horrific thing came on.

Now you damn clouds best get outta here!

(if any don't know the problem with that, well, just call the rest of us old and be done with it.

There’s already investigations into actual human artists (and their record companies) using bots to rack up plays and generate royalties and chart momentum.

After about ten songs this AI crap starts to play. You’re vibing along and then realize Spotify is pulling a switcheroo.

You can’t stop the shit, only slow it a little.

for a podcast I love as it would cost me to get the podcast plus everything else on Spotify. Turns out, for my monthly $10 Spotify would pay the podcasters about .003 cents per listen, whereas Patreon gives the creators $8.50 from my $10.

I feel like I'm out of step with everyone bc I don't use Amazon, Facebook or Twitter, but I'm adding Spotify to the list.

Sadly, I listened to Walk the Walk on Youtube. I hate to say, I liked it. Won't listen again, though.

have that fake country song appear popular and get headlines for free publicity.

by the end of the decade.

It's tough for me to think otherwise-- it's a very subtle but damnably broad, convenient and accessible tool which can be applied to just about any creative entertainment endeavor. I'm certainly not celebrating that in any way, but at this point I just don't see any practical alternatives in denying its use, whether in the open or behind the curtains.

Given today's musical climate, with a billion different subgenres and garage bands evolving into 'just me on my laptop', I'd guessed this industry would be the first to cave and welcome the exploitation.

Not soon after we won’t be the audience, it’ll be robots listening to robots.

Pat MacDonald of Timbuk 3 was wrong, I don’t wear shades because the future’s so bright, I wear them to hide my tears from what’s happening.

There is no "outfit", for fuck's sake.

There is just some guy feeding prompts to an AI.

for the AI duets. This cannot be OK with them.

This isn’t art. It’s a monstrosity of stolen music that takes a massive shit on artists.

It doesn't seem to exist in my universe.

Okay, I'm just messing around. I know what Spotify is and I deleted it from my internet a long time ago.

Most of my music is purchased on CDs from artists I know are real, some of it directly from artists I've seen live, in person.

I have a collection of LPs and cassettes from my youth too

These CDs get ripped to the music library on my computer for my own personal use. You can store quite a bit of music on a modern SD card to bring with you wherever you go.

AI generated music makes me sad. If AI is someone's only means of expressing themselves, how can they ever be certain it's their own expression, that they're not being led down the garden path by the AI?

The voices in my own head are a lot more real than anything AI might produce.

A truer expression of one's own self might be to simply publish the prompts that generated an AI song, story, image, or movie, and keep whatever slop the AI generates to yourself.

I've played with AI a bit and it has never taken me where I want to go.

I buy almost all physical media myself.

I can count my digital downloads on my fingers.

...it hit #1 on the digital purchases charts. 3,000 units sold at 99 cents each was all it took to reach #1 on that chart. $2,970 of sales. Kind of like winning a race with nobody else in it.
It didn't even list on any other Billboard chart.
I heard it on the Rick Beato video. Yikes, is it horrible!
The lyrics are terrible, the voice sounds fake, the mix is mushy.
Btw: Spotify shows 2.2 million people listened to it, but only 3,000 people bought it.
So, it reached "#1", but nobody really cares about it.