Every year, music-lovers unite when major streaming platforms release listening stats as shareable graphics. No matter how you listen, what you listen to matters for these year-end reports. Choosing which songs to play on repeat, how to curate a playlist, and selecting which artists to support are points of pride. Some users even tailor their listening habits just to get the perfect screenshot. In recent years, a new genre has topped the charts: music generated by AI.
What happens to listeners, musicians, and the future of the music industry when top artists are no longer human?
otherwise known as: https://open.spotify.com/track/0sjxRg1VlYfx4YG7uxurrq?si=513d30f2055c433e
Suno and Udio are two leading music AI companies that have paved the way for AI-generated music. With just a single prompt, users can create songs with full-fledged instrumentals, vocals, and lyrics. On Spotify, artists like Xania Monet, Sienna Rose, and Kanegi showcase the capabilities of AI-assisted musicians and have cumulatively racked up over 6 million monthly listeners.
However, AI’s involvement in each of these artists' work varies significantly, and has since sparked debate over the ethics of trading artistic ownership for industry success. For example, Xania Monet is a publicly-known artificial intelligence music project backed by poet Telisha Jones. While Jones writes the lyrics, Suno produces the music. Kanegi also openly admits their music is AI-assisted.
https://youtu.be/EUBhjOToIC0?si=OQCJ41ZJMpIl9SZ7
In contrast, artists like Sienna Rose are more discreet about their AI usage—in fact, Sienna Rose often denies such allegations through social media like in this TikTok, even as listeners compile side-by-side comparisons that suggest otherwise.
https://www.tiktok.com/@newsroomza/video/7597730360822205707?q=Sienna Rose denying&t=1771982964897
https://www.tiktok.com/@histhugglife/video/7600858432165465375?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Regardless of how artists incorporate AI into their practice, integrating it into the music production timeline fully redefines what an artist is. AI systems do not require touring schedules, healthcare, or pay. They can optimize their lyrics for algorithmic trends and adapt instantly to what performs well on streaming platforms—even if that means changing race. While releasing 10 albums in just four months, Sienna Rose’s avatar changed from a white woman with red hair to a Black woman. This raises further concerns about AI’s lack of cultural sensitivity, and the impact this could have on fair representation in the music industry.
Despite their generic lyrics, basic cover art, and inhumanly frequent releases, these artists continue to top the charts, while listeners remain unaware of how their music was made. Into the Blue by Sienna Rose had at one point reached Spotify’s Viral 50 USA chart.
Instead of taking action to de-platform AI-generated music, leading music companies like Spotify and Apple Music amplify these songs with curated playlists and encourage listeners to do the same. To the algorithm, engagement is engagement — no matter what makes it.
otherwise known as: https://open.spotify.com/track/7FxzgizJRGTQ3fxUqfvljg?si=41645cdcf4934d5f
https://youtu.be/5q9EjSUovc4?si=0_gx-WqU3k2mD_wc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnUK9zvtFLg&t=4s
Beyond full-song generation, AI is embedded into every aspect of the music industry. KATSEYE’s “Internet Girl” visualizer and Bruno Mars’ “Leave the Door Open” lyric video are a perfect example of this. Despite having polar-opposite aesthetics, both videos credit 351 Studio, a “leading AI video production agency,” for “delivering cinematic, generative AI video content and post production services.” Although 351 Studio still uses human editors, its ability to augment videos to make them marketable completely eliminates the need for traditional roles, like production designers, cinematographers, or gaffers, that gain merit through years of effort, education, and creative output.