As the acceleration of the artificial intelligence (AI) wave continues to expand its bullish reach across multiple spheres of human life, including work and career spaces, players in the music art industry are beginning to sense the pressure brought about by the emergence of tech tools that deliver almost human-like compositions.
While it initially emerged as a boon for musicians and composers as it amplified their creativity, recent happenings are ringing alarm bells with rising concerns about possible edging out of human artistes.
A Business Daily spot check, for example, has discovered multiple YouTube channels based exclusively on AI-generated songs with auto-generated thumbnails and music mixes running for as long as over two hours.
A channel named African Dreamscapes, for instance, has all its songs and playlists, which include Swahili music, generated through AI tools, with audiences in the comments section seemingly not able to decipher the nature of the compositions.
The channel, which had 11,400 subscribers and 15 videos as of Friday, was created on July 2 this year in Nigeria and has since amassed a collective reach of 764,567 views across all published videos.
The most popular mix on the channel had gathered 345,000 views by Friday with analysts saying the content has monetisation potential.
“Provided they disclose the content is generated by AI and follow YouTube monetisation policies, they can monetise,” remarked social media marketing strategist Egline Samoei.
But is the career threat real?
As artistes and production houses grapple with what the shift portends for their businesses, listeners are contemplating drifts in their music consumption habits and are increasingly intrigued and perplexed by the emerging trends.
Sector players argue that while AI holds the potential to democratise music creation and make it more accessible to those who may not traditionally have the resources and talent to pursue it as a career, there exists a legitimate concern about job displacement among existing artists.
According to Kelvin Omondi, a music producer at Nairobi-based Umoja Sounds, the impact will most be felt about streaming music offerings, but human artistes will retain their audiences in live performances and concerts.
Mr Omondi further attempts to draw parallels between the sound and instrumental qualities of AI-created music compared to that of human creators, noting that the latter beat the former by far but is quick to warn that this could shift given the rapidly evolving nature of the technology.
“The biggest challenge is that major record labels are purporting to pile pressure on the creators of these tools but are at the same time trying to cut backdoor deals with them because they want to eliminate production costs. Popular music genres such as hip-hop, R&B, and rock will be most impacted in this wave,” he notes.
Aside from the jobs scare, other emerging concerns revolve around the ethical implications of AI-driven music creation as the tech tools learn by analysing and mimicking existing compositions, which puts into question the cultural appropriation and authenticity of such releases.
A recent survey published by Nairobi-based arts organisation Creative Garage showed that Kenyan artistes are just as worried as they are optimistic about the growing use of AI in the industry.
According to the research that polled 130 creatives in Kenya between January and April, key pain points voiced by respondents included ethical issues presented by generative AI, job losses, devaluation of creative work, as well as loss of the human touch.
“There is a significant fear that AI could replace human creatives, leading to widespread job losses in fields such as writing, illustration, and music.
“There is also a risk that over-reliance on AI could hinder the development of creatives’ skills, their ability to think critically, innovate, and learn from unplanned aspects of the creative process,” said the report.
“AI’s ability to quickly generate content could, in addition, lead to a devaluation of creative work, as the market could be flooded with AI-produced art, music, and literature, diminishing the perceived value of human-created works.”
