Spotify, why would a fan turn their favorite artists into AI slop?

AI covers and music evolution are already a problem on the Internet. Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have tons of reggae versions of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” The Weeknd’s country rendition, and AC/DC’s amazing Motown rendition. Now, a a new tool from Spotify it will make it easy to create and share.

Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) have signed a license that will allow users to create remixes and covers from the UMG collection. How exactly it will work, beyond being “powered by artificial intelligence technology,” or how much it will cost, is unclear. They are positioning this as an additional subscription service for advanced fans. According to UMG CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, they need to “develop the relationship with the fans.”

There’s no denying that learning to play your favorite song on guitar or dissecting a song to create your own remix can teach you a lot about music and help you appreciate your favorite artist. But the benefits don’t come when you ask AI to create a bluegrass version of Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul.”

There is also some narcissism at play here. Learning to play or sing music creates a career connection and helps you develop skills. The AI ​​screen is about to shout, “Look at what I made.” Or, more accurately, “See what I asked the machine to do for me.” You can see this being played in the Suno subreddit, where people like to comment listen only to their music. People there proudly announce that they no longer listen to artists on Spotify or other streaming services, they only listen to what they create using Suno.

Those are the people who pay for Spotify’s remixing tool. Not Swifties looking to make a deep connection with Taylor. They will be people who think that, somehow, whatever they create will be better than what a professional artist can create. They have proven themselves to be able to somehow manage the work of an army of the most talented songwriters in the industry, with a wealth of knowledge. But, they are not participating in art in any way, and they are not creating art themselves.

To be honest, the whole thing seems disrespectful to the concept of human creativity and to the artist who serves as the source. And what superfan wants to disrespect their favorite artist?

At best, the people promoting the AI ​​covers are just laughing and throwing out color schemes. What you can argue about is the use of AI in a harmless way, and it’s not really necessary.

Obviously, I can’t speak to the quality of Spotify’s generative AI output, as the tool hasn’t been released yet. But I have had enough time the sun and other AI music production tools to tell you that what they spit out is pure nonsense as well lifeless. Is the idea of ​​a fiddle-driven version of “California Über Alles” by the Dead Kennedys funny? Sure. But The execution of Suno somehow it sucks its joy. It does not make unexpected decisions. It lowers the edges of any problem. (It also made an artwork with a swastika, which is…something.)

I’d rather hear someone play and sing a cover of that song solo in the bedroom, recorded on an iPhone, than listen to Suno’s version again. Any non-playable recording that has no production costs can have charm.

Now, to be clear, taking a song and covering it unexpectedly is a successful experimental technique. It can be played as a joke, such as The Gourds’ cover of “Gin and Juice.” Or it can reveal an underappreciated beauty and depth, as in Travis’ “Baby One Time More,” or rather Burning Lips‘ take Kylie Minogue. But turning “I Wanna Dance With Someone (Who Loves Me)” into a black metal song it requires careful consideration of materials, arrangements, and true appreciation of the original.

The Creator Mac Glocky they often think of music as if it were composed by other artists. Whereas AI can create a kind of “Mr. Blue Sky“Much like Deftones, Mac shows a deep understanding of the source material.” He doesn’t just add distortion and screams, he makes musical choices that sound like Chino Moreno and Stephen Carpenter would do.

The same is true of remixes. Those winners re-edit the music, re-edit it or re-package it to be played in other venues. Unstoppable dance to the punk groove of Bloc Party”Party” is full of words dance floor bangerMissy Elliott’s slinky “Get Your Freak On” morphs into a glitchy punk rock ragerand La Roux”Bullets” goes from ’80s pop to a moody slowburn.

But these covers and mixes were created by people who know their craft and understand music. Whatever value there is in fan-generated content diminishes when the level of engagement is reduced to a word of encouragement.