AI Has Been Here The Whole Time:

Conservatory Fountain by Perkins Harnly and Nicholas Zupa c. 1938 ​

With the recent large-scale theft of art going on unchecked in the world, it’s been heartening to see many members of the online community show support for independent artistry which is currently being plundered. Even as our leadership shrugs and continues taking checks from criminals, at least we have each other.

Before AI, streaming platforms were made as a way to strip wealth from independent artists and give it to established brands and labels (check out my past blog on how Spotify streaming royalties work). Before streaming, record labels were created to trap artists into predatory and parasitic contracts. Even before that, the patronage system (which many art forms/genres/institutions are still chained to today) ensured that artists remained loyal to power and capital - one reason why cases of abuse and censorship are so rampant to this day. I think it’s important to recognize that AI is simply the latest iteration of the same old tools we’ve always dealt with. Free and accessible art is dangerous, not in itself necessarily, but because of what it predicates - I’ll get into that in this post.

The issues we face run way deeper than AI regulation. Yes, AI regulation is a good step and we should support it, but it is ultimately a bandaid solution. We need to keep our attention on the deeper systems currently trapping, robbing, and killing our communities.
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Our Beautiful Cage:

We (our corporate overlords) have created a world which prioritizes capital and “productivity” (which is far from productive) above all else. A select few people, blinded by the mistaken notion of having “earned” their way to the top, continue to optimize a broken system which puts numbers above human lives. Nobody benefits from this system. Even those who we consider “successful” are hollow shells, driven by a false sense of purpose. Take a look at the supposed beneficiaries of this system, do they look happy to you?

The key to the cage is able to remain hidden because the cage divides us. Yes, in a social sense - it isolates us, but it also literally divides us on an individual level. No person is afforded the ability to explore themselves fully as a human being. Many of us are strangers in our own skin. There’s parts of ourselves that we have little to no knowledge about, many of us go through life without any idea of what we want - on autopilot. Some of us hyperfocus on one aspect of ourselves, neglecting all other parts with the idea that that will fulfill us in the end. Few are able to think clearly enough about their predicament to act and change it. We instead try to optimize our divided selves for “success” in profit generation - the one allowable effort. These circumstances are features, not flaws, of the cage.

I believe the main way that humans learn about themselves is by creating and sharing art. The whole process of creation - writing, playing, singing, listening, discussing, etc. It all plays into endless discovery about ourselves and each other. It lets us be our full selves. Unfortunately, and largely for this reason, free expression is a tightly controlled commodity in the cage. Only a select few are allowed to do it, and even they can not do it without moderation.
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Accessibility in Art:

​By enforcing the need for us to make money from all that we do, this tight regulation of art is possible. Even lucrative artists are pressured out of free expression in the interest of generating wealth - pumping out as much material as possible, with little regard for the music itself. Incoming independent artists are choked by streaming platforms and predatory institutions. It is therefore incredibly difficult for the average person to pursue their drive to create.

Enter AI: AI music companies are angling themselves as a path towards accessibility in music. A way for us to have the time in our busy money-making lives to make art. So, is AI our dream come true for accessibility?

Let’s imagine for a moment what true accessibility in art would look like. We’ll consider how each point can be achieved with and without AI. You tell me which option you would prefer:

1. Art requires immense time. In order to have true accessibility in art, people would need free time to learn and explore their creativity and technical capacity to make music. We could provide that time by advocating for shorter work weeks and more time off, or we could have Suno do that part of the process for us to save time.

2. Making art is expensive - instruments, equipment, teachers, it’s hard for most people to get access to those things. For true accessibility, we would need greater financial freedom. People would need money they could put towards equipment and education in addition to what they need to cover their basic expenses. We could provide this by advocating for higher pay across all sectors and increasing funding towards arts education in public schools across the country, or we could let Suno take care of it and go back to work.

3. Art requires spaces to gather, create, and share together. It’s not meant to be created in isolation. For this imagined accessibility to succeed, we would need public spaces where communities can easily gather. Many places used to exist like this in the past of this country. Churches, and historical buildings are some of the last remnants of this. We could fund the construction/restoration of community spaces and invest in public transportation to ensure they are accessible to all, or we could just do it all online with Suno.

So what’s my point here? Well, in the end, all of these above solutions without AI benefit more than just the arts. They are things we should already have, and are easily achievable with the resources we have today. Considering this reveals the following: AI music (and AI in general) is not a solution in any way. It’s an excuse to not provide solutions (and monetize a problem, of course)

​Why does Mikey Shulman think people don’t enjoy making music? Because when you love the cage, art makes little to no sense. 

So yes, AI has been here the whole time. Preceded by patronage, record labels, and streaming platforms. It’s the latest tool to convince you to stop looking for a key. It’s the latest tool to ensure that a paid artist is a loyal artist, that freedom is never truly free. Don’t accept their excuses. Don’t stop looking.