Producers push beyond the limbo of AI-generated music

The industry is currently grappling with how to move past the low bar of generic AI-generated content, a phenomenon will.i.am characterizes as "slop" that creators must transcend by using technology to imagine things that do not yet exist (Zinstrel, AI Music Newsletter). While major platforms like Spotify expand their AI offerings with nine new DJ voice options, including seven English accents and two in Spanish, independent labels are taking a different approach to human-machine collaboration. At Italy's Moon Note label, Davide Fumagalli writes all lyrics by hand and arranges AI-generated vocal and instrumental outputs from Suno within Logic Pro to create work for five fictional artists. This method mirrors the push for creative control seen in other corners of the industry, where artists like the Nigerian producer Azzi on the Beat reject ease for the high-tempo, clattering percussion of mara music, a genre born from Lagos street parties that hits 160 beats per minute (The Guardian).

• Saregama is shifting its business model away from artist-led concerts to focus on owning and monetizing its own live music intellectual property (Platform & Stream).
• Samsung’s Harman has launched Drops, a TikTok-style discovery app that allows users to share 10-to-30-second song clips with friends.
• Stingray’s $175 million acquisition of TuneIn has outperformed expectations, delivering $57 million in combined annualized revenue and cost savings.