Music has been a vital part of humanity’s collective culture throughout the history of our species. It’s not unique to us – music is a multi-species experience – but our ability and motivation to create tools for the purpose of making music is something only we have done. We learned to craft instruments to create sounds our bodies couldn’t make on their own.
We have spent millenia living and evolving alongside beautiful, meaningful sounds. We work continuously to advance our ability to experience music. This is most apparent in the music industry developments of the last 60 years. From the 8-track to Spotify, we’ve made sure that music remains a constant part of our lives amidst our rapidly evolving world. Technology is shaping the future of music, and it always has. But now as A.I. moves into the music industry and machine learning is being implemented everywhere, it’s easier than ever for indie artists to find success.
Accessible Music Creation
With the development of A.I., otherwise expensive and complicated processes will be automated throughout music development and advertising. This has the potential to help democratize the industry and move indie artists and labels away from the traditional big label business model that’s been the standard for decades.
Since the industrial revolution, music creation has been something inaccessible to most people, with monetary and academic barriers preventing the average person from achieving major success. This shifted with the emergence of the hip-hop, rap, and punk movements of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Now with tools like A.I. mediated composition (Amper Music, LANDR, AIVA) and voice synthesis, it will be easier, more affordable, and more accessible for thousands of independent artists around the world to create their own high-quality, professional music.
Even the idea of what is considered “professional” is shifting as the traditional music industry is transformed into one which puts power in the hands of indie artists and indie labels. A generation who grew up playing Minecraft and building with Legos is now entering the music industry. It’s a generation who entertained themselves by being creative, detail oriented, and competitive. A.I. will give them the tools they need to circumvent the system and create any music they can imagine. Music by and for the average person will no longer be unique to the DIY genres of hip-hop, rap, and punk. With A.I. tools being implemented in music creation, anything will be possible for anyone.
Automation Will Reshape Music Marketing
Artists are already competing with a vast pool of talent. Over 60,000 tracks are added to Spotify each day, and with the further democratization of music that figure will continue to grow. A.I. assisted music creation will expand the pool of artists and further saturate the music market. Audience attention will matter more than ever.
Marketing technology is becoming the major game changer for artists. The ability to easily distribute music, track analytics, and respond to audience attention will be what sets artists apart from their competitors.
A.I. Driven Ads
As marketing technology moves to the forefront of the music industry, A.I. will make creating and delivering the right ads to the best audience easier than ever before. This will help artists reach their audience more efficiently in the midst of a highly saturated, increasingly competitive market.
Advertisers can use A.I. to create preference specific ads for listeners so branded content can fit seamlessly into their media consumption patterns. More personalized ads increase ROI and create more revenue for artists. Getting the right ads to fans at the right moment will help artists to stand out from the crowd and remain relevant amidst an ever-changing creative landscape.
A Change in Music Consumption
At the forefront of A.I. technology is voice-controlled speakers and smart-home devices. While still a luxury for many people, this type of everyday A.I. is becoming more and more common. Voice command devices allow listeners to access music for any mood through their preferred streaming service at any time without interacting with a screen. For many, the listener relationship has shifted to be with the voice-activated A.I. and the name of the artist or song, whereas that relationship has historically been with an artist’s albums and visual presence.
This is an emerging subcategory of music listeners. Both A.I. programmers and artists will soon have to learn how to adapt to this new way of consuming music. Right now the main question is: how do we teach A.I. to read auditory emotions in order to accurately measure listening patterns for artist analytics in that particular audience?
Mood-Specific Playlists
As voice-based music exploration gains popularity, A.I. generated contextual playlists become better than ever. People want music that matches the tone of their moments and days, so they’re turning to mood based playlists. This is true of all listeners, not just those who seek out music through voice-command A.I.
What this means for artists is still uncertain. How do small artists gain real fans instead of only one or two of their songs being added to playlists? As A.I. developes, these playlists will only get better and more popular. The question will become how can indie artists use this to their advantage or otherwise adapt?
Playlists Vs. Albums
While A.I. generated playlists are on the rise, albums won’t be going anywhere. Listeners still give a significant amount of attention to entire albums and that won’t change anytime soon, but it’s most likely that albums will take on a more supportive role rather than being the focal point of fan interest. The focus is turning to individual songs, as seen in the ever increasing popularity of TikTok. This will give artists the opportunity to release songs on a more regular basis. Fans will be continuously entertained and artists won’t have to wait to share what they’re working on.
With less pressure being placed on album releases and interest growing in singles, artists will have the opportunity to create more creative, drawn out album projects while still releasing music in the interim. The lack of pressure to release an abundance of music all at once will likely support artist creativity and help indie artists gain popularity quicker than before.
Artist Controlled Profits
The rise of A.I. in the music industry coinciding with the growth of indie artists means that major labels will lose much of their control over the industry. Indie artists and labels are being empowered to create their own personal brands across social media and connect with fans directly. No major labels involved. This is leading to artists and indie labels handling everything themselves, meaning more creativity and individuality. Artists are self-monetizing and utilizing subscription business models, thus maintaining autonomy over their music and fans.
Because of this, there’s a growing need for online management tools for indie artists and labels. Intercept Music is filling this niche by offering a way to manage distribution, merch, social media, and analytics all from one place. We streamline the business side of music so that small artists can succeed financially while maintaining autonomy.
Modern technology is reshaping how people create and consume music, and this latest transformation is only just beginning. More artists than ever are able to create professional-quality music from anywhere with the latest affordable A.I. assisted music creation technology available on smartphones and browsers. With the industry power being put back into the hands of artists, the music industry as we know it will be rapidly evolving into something open to anyone creatively minded and motivated to succeed. Being able to understand these trends and quickly respond to them will be vital to artist success. Intercept Music exists to help with that and so much more.