Questions for AI Music Creators
I'm asking these questions because I'm genuinely curious about the people who create AI music. I realise I might have some misconceptions about who you are, what your musical interests are, and what motivates you to create music this way. I'd like to understand that better.
My current opinion of AI music isn't particularly positive, although I recognise that this is largely a matter of personal taste.
I tend to dislike mainstream music for many of the same reasons I'm sceptical of AI music: I often find it formulaic, unoriginal, and reluctant to challenge established conventions. What I enjoy most about music is exploration. I like discovering unfamiliar styles, sounds and musical traditions, whether that means exploring something on the surface level or digging deeper into rhythm, melody, harmony, structure and complexity.
All of this is intertwined with the emotional expression that music offers. Mainstream music has never appealed to me very much in that respect, either. I often find its emotional palette too positive or sentimental, with an emphasis on vocal showmanship and familiar melodic and rhythmic patterns. I'm generally drawn to the opposite: unusual or complex rhythms, darker atmospheres, rebellious attitudes, heaviness and music that challenges my expectations.
I suspect AI music, by its very nature, tends towards familiar patterns and the statistical average of what already exists. That tendency is something I find difficult to connect with. However, I'm aware that this might not tell me much about the people creating it, or about what they're actually doing with these tools.
That's why I'd particularly like to hear from people who consider themselves AI music creators.
1. Your musical background
How interested were you in music before you started creating it with AI? What did you listen to, and how far did you explore different genres, artists and musical traditions?
Did you already have a clear idea of what you liked and disliked? Were there particular kinds of music you were drawn to, or others you could never really connect with?
2. The creative process
Many AI music creators say they enjoy the creative process itself. I'm curious about that.
Had you ever tried creating music before AI became available? If not, what stopped you? Did you find the idea uninteresting, intimidating, technically inaccessible, or simply not worth pursuing?
What has AI changed for you? Is it the ability to realise musical ideas you already had, the opportunity to experiment, the pleasure of discovering unexpected results, or something else entirely?
3. Motivation and money
How much of your motivation to create AI music comes from the enjoyment of the creative process itself, how much from the possibility of making money now, and how much from the hope that you might gradually improve, grow an audience and eventually turn it into a career?
If you knew you would never be able to monetise your music, build an audience or make a career out of it, would you still create music at roughly the same pace? Or is part of the appeal the possibility that the time and effort you're investing today might lead to something bigger in the future?
4. Creating versus discovering music
Do you find it easier to create AI music that you personally enjoy than to discover existing music by human artists that appeals to you?
In other words, does AI allow you to produce music that fits your personal taste more precisely than anything you can find by exploring existing artists and genres? Or is discovering music made by other people still the more rewarding experience for you?
I'd be interested in hearing your experiences, including from people whose musical tastes and creative motivations are very different from mine.