With a one-sentence prompt, the AI song and music generator Suno can create songs or entire albums in minutes. What would usually take musicians hours of brainstorming, recording, and editing is able to be automated, and then released on social media and streaming platforms — often without listeners even knowing it’s AI-generated.
Shaun Crowley, founder and executive director of Kansas City-based Manor Records, said there is a need for local and national regulations against artificial intelligence to protect the human musicians that are now competing with them for listens, and money.
“The industry now is using AI as the musician, taking real musicians completely out of it,” Crowley told KCUR’s Up to Date. “And where it's really sad is they're also making money off the streams and the uses on TikTok, taking a huge chunk that would go to an artist.”
Spotify is now estimated to have 25% of its music generated by AI, according to a Duke University study. Kansas City musician Joshua James Warren said he feels Spotify is a necessary evil for up-and-coming artists.
“I'm spending so much time and effort practicing, performing, writing, singing, so many late nights that it feels like the human element’s completely removed when you just give it to a computer prompt,” Warren told KCUR’s Up to Date.
Another local musician, Jamogi Bridges, said he thinks AI-generated music should be excluded from competitive music charts. He also plans to remove his music from Spotify, an action already taken by local musician Alison Hawkins back in 2022. Instead, Bridges will house his music on the rival streaming service Tidal.
These three musicians agreed that generative AI has no place in making music, any content made with AI should be labeled as such, and the best way to support an artist is for consumers to buy and own their songs rather than stream them.
“Water is being used to make AI, and we already have an environmental crisis,” Hawkins said. “We don't need to be spending our precious resources when we can transfer those playlists to another platform and collaborate with real human people. Because, if we cherish art, we cherish people.”
When asked for comment, a Spotify spokesperson said AI-generated content exists on Apple and YouTube Music as well.
“AI technology is advancing quickly, bringing both new creative possibilities and challenges for the music industry. It’s critical for the music industry to join forces and act together to protect creativity while enabling innovation,” a Spotify spokesperson told KCUR’s Up to Date.
“Spotify has introduced new protections to safeguard artists, songwriters, and producers from AI-driven spam, impersonation, and deception,” the statement continued. “As part of this effort, we’re supporting a new industry standard for credits that indicates when AI has played a role—whether in vocals, instrumentation, or post-production. When labels and distributors provide this information, it will begin appearing in Spotify’s credits.”
- Shaun Crowley, founder and executive director of Manor Records
- Joshua James Warren, Joshua James and the First Aid Kits
- Jamogi Bridges, Jamogi and the Jammers
- Alison Hawkins, True Lions
