AN AI MUSIC PLEASE!

Have you ever dreamed of writing a song? Have you tried? Did you succeed?

For most people, the answer to all three questions (or at least one) is "no." For several reasons: because not everyone dreams of it, because not everyone plays an instrument, and because composing music is difficult.

That is, it used to be. Because AI isn't just passing through the world; it's here to change things and to stay. So, forget what you knew about music made with artificial intelligence. And it's not just because the charts are already full of fictional bands and artists, but because the world is living in a new era.

Those of us who were born in the analog world, like me, grew up knowing that art has always been linked to scarcity; that is, the rarer it is, the more valuable it is. A piece of art, like a song, was a product of days, months, and years of dedication, inspiration, talent, skill, etc. How many Mozarts have there been, how many Beethovens, how many Beatles? How many songs like "Something" have been created?

Appreciating music has always been an event. It was necessary to have the equipment, buy the record or cassette tape, unpack it, put it in, and listen to each song, absorbing all the emotion imprinted on that album. I'll never forget when I first heard The Dark Side of the Moon, an album I bought in a clearance sale at Eldorado Plaza, about 10 years after its original release. What a sound! Who were those artists?

I can recount the experience of listening to dozens of albums with that same emotion. From Hooked on Classics, a Som Livre release that brought classical music back in a danceable style, to Roberto Carlos' annual releases. Art in its essence, from the vinyl label to the liner notes.

I remember my first Walkman, or rather, cassette player because it was a CCE, and the thrill of having music with me wherever I went. This passion for hardware and software has accompanied me my whole life, from the Walkman to MP3 players, to the iPod, the iPhone, to AirPods.

But it wasn't just recording and playback technology that changed over the years. The ease of listening to music anywhere has led to another profound change: in music itself. With the internet came access to a whole range of musicians and music from completely different backgrounds, leading to an ever-increasing consumption of music, culminating in streaming.

As Sting recently said, streaming has trivialized the experience of listening to a new album. In fact, it has ended the concept of the album that began in the 90s. Today, a release is multimedia, on all platforms, and the difficult part is no longer being able to compose, record, and release a song, but to find an audience for it.

With the proliferation of music production tools, what was once exclusive to studios and record labels or professional musicians has become child's play. And the content has suffered. What matters is that your music is used by an influencer, not sung by some artist.

Returning to the initial question, I will answer for myself: yes, I have dreamed (for years and years), I have tried (before, without success; now, having fun) and I have succeeded. And it wasn't just one song: it was dozens.

Did AI make my ability superhuman? No, and that's not the goal. But AI made me a much happier person by allowing me to do something I had already given up on and crossed off my list.

In today's world, painting a picture, taking a photo, or achieving success is just the most visible and obvious step. The question is the purpose, and that's where everything changes. Art no longer exists solely for contemplation. From paintings to sculptures, the consumption of art has changed. We no longer consume the eternity of the work, but its magnitude, even if it only lasts a few minutes. Everyone must have seen sand sculptures, cakes, chocolate, etc. These are works that took days and end in minutes.

The same applies to other forms of art. Since Andy Warhol decided to use Campbell's soup cans as a theme, it has become clear that consumer society consumes not the product itself, but what it represents. And this applies to music as well. People consume music by the minute. They might listen again, but what they heard is already gone. Therefore, there isn't enough production in the analog world to meet people's need to hear something new.

In this new world, AI is the only way for artists to produce music at the speed their audiences consume it, even if the average quality drops because the average taste of the public also declines each year. I would go further: AI is the only way to meet market demand while maintaining an acceptable level of quality.

Until AI decides to create its own music. But that's a story for another post.