AI music overtakes real band its modelled on

[Supernaut]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

 

So how do you discover new music other than by going to gigs?

I'll counter with this - there was a time Spotify didn't exist, you know? 

[tegs07]

15 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

I'll counter with this - there was a time Spotify didn't exist, you know? 

I noticed a thread where you have got rid of all your televisions. Personally speaking we are in the golden era of TV. Streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV have created utter gems with outstanding writing, acting and soundtracks. I am currently listening to the soundtrack of Down Cemetery Road on Spotify and will check out the artists I like.

 

The world has changed. Some technology is incredibly useful. Narrowing your sources down to physical print media or analog media is going to severely restrict your access to news, culture and information, not to mention your ability to understand the world of the younger generation. The generation who don’t remember a time when Spotify didn’t exist and are using an entirely new toolset to create, communicate and educate.

 

Edited 2 hours ago by tegs07

[Supernaut]

Not sure why you're so bothered with how I spend my time and what I do? 

[tegs07]

4 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Not sure why you're so bothered with how I spend my time and what I do? 

when it’s relevant to a the discussion at hand I am. Otherwise I have limited interest. You rarely seem to have anything to add other than to tell everybody else that they are wrong.

Edited 2 hours ago by tegs07

[BigRedX]

27 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

I'll counter with this - there was a time Spotify didn't exist, you know? 

 

In those days I would go and see bands I had heard and liked on John Peel's Radio One program, or someone who looked interesting in the music press (mostly NME and Zigzag) or even a local band that had an eye-catching poster. Most of the bands I heard on Peel lived up to their recorded promise at gigs, the others were a mixed bunch, some excellent, many terrible. The great gigs made it all worthwhile.

 

These days none of those things really exist. What is left of the music press on-line is depressingly mainstream, there are no radio shows as eclectic as Peel's, and hardly anyone puts up posters for gigs and those that do are mostly dull. The internet has given us access to bands from all over the world and that is both its strength and its weakness. I get to hear loads of interesting new bands but lots of them are not from the UK and are unlikely to be playing here any time soon. I could order a CD or record from one of these bands and hope that it reaches me in an undamaged state, but with the current postage situation regarding UK and US in particular, this is becoming more and more difficult. From the other side of the transaction, I have had to stop selling physical copies of one of my previous band's back catalogue to addresses outside of the UK, because for the last 5 years not one has reached its destination and those that did eventually get returned were no longer in a condition here they could be resold.

 

In these cases streaming whether it be Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube is the only way of being able to hear these bands. Each stream may not add up to much but at least the money will eventually reach the band. If I buy a CD the chances are that there is no profit to be made once international postage and Bandcamp have taken their cuts.

 

And so I ask again how do you discover new bands?

Edited 2 hours ago by BigRedX

[SteveXFR]

39 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Interesting thanks for the replies. I am not a gigging musician but a punter. I tend to rely on Spotify to find new artists and Dice to let me know when they are touring.

 

As has been mentioned AI is a threat but for now I think people are safe. Formulaic music has been around since forever with the likes of Stock, Aitken and Waterman and later Simon Cowell. I am not convinced that AI music is anything different but just another step. Some people will go and see a holographic performance of AI content. I can envision this unfortunately. I am sure that just as people went to whatever boy band was going through the motions, many others will continue to seek something different.

 

At least with the formulaic pop music made by humans, it keeps recording studios, producers and session musicians in work.

[SteveXFR]

11 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Not sure why you're so bothered with how I spend my time and what I do? 

 

I think maybe because you expressed the opinion that all who use streaming services are bad, you've raised the question of how to find new music without using them. Maybe you don't listen to new music, nowt wrong with that.

[Beedster]

Just now, SteveXFR said:

 

At least with the formulaic pop music made by humans, it keeps recording studios, producers and session musicians in work.

 

That's increasingly not the case Steve, much of it is done in the box in offices. The digital voice processing tools these days mean that you can record a voice in a kitchen and it can be made passable. To a degree it makes music production more democratic and accessible which is a good thing, but there are negatives  

[BigRedX]

4 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

At least with the formulaic pop music made by humans, it keeps recording studios, producers and session musicians in work.

 

But does it? 

 

In the 80s SAW did everything in house and most of the artists they produced were signed to their PWL label.

 

These days I suspect most of the money goes to Max Martin or one of his associates.

[tegs07]

1 minute ago, SteveXFR said:

 

At least with the formulaic pop music made by humans, it keeps recording studios, producers and session musicians in work.

Yes true but ultimately it is pointless going all Don Quixote. This technology is out in the wild. Some of it is useful, some of it is deeply destructive. Ultimately we can only learn to use it and make our own decisions about what elements to embrace and what elements to resist. In the same way I never gave Cowell a penny of my money or willingly watched any of his abysmal TV shows I will avoid AI generated music.

I have to let other people make their own decisions about it though.

[Supernaut]

16 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

when it’s relevant to a the discussion at hand I am. Otherwise I have limited interest. You rarely seem to have anything to add other than to tell everybody else that they are wrong.

Please show me a comment I've made telling someone they're "wrong". 

[Supernaut]

19 hours ago, Supernaut said:

Touched a nerve have I? I'm a regular gig goer and always attend local unsigned acts. Bare in mind, I will never attend one of your gigs because you're only one gig from superstardom, right? 😁

 

17 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

In those days I would go and see bands I had heard and liked on John Peel's Radio One program, or someone who looked interesting in the music press (mostly NME and Zigzag) or even a local band that had an eye-catching poster. Most of the bands I heard on Peel lived up to their recorded promise at gigs, the others were a mixed bunch, some excellent, many terrible. The great gigs made it all worthwhile.

 

These days none of those things really exist. What is left of the music press on-line is depressingly mainstream, there are no radio shows as eclectic as Peel's, and hardly anyone puts up posters for gigs and those that do are mostly dull. The internet has given us access to bands from all over the world and that is both its strength and its weakness. I get to hear loads of interesting new bands but lots of them are not from the UK and are unlikely to be playing here any time soon. I could order a CD or record from one of these bands and hope that it reaches me in an undamaged state, but with the current postage situation regarding UK and US in particular, this is becoming more and more difficult. From the other side of the transaction, I have had to stop selling physical copies of one of my previous band's back catalogue to addresses outside of the UK, because for the last 5 years not one has reached its destination and those that did eventually get returned were no longer in a condition here they could be resold.

 

In these cases streaming whether it be Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube is the only way of being able to hear these bands. Each stream may not add up to much but at least the money will eventually reach the band. If I buy a CD the chances are that there is no profit to be made once international postage and Bandcamp have taken their cuts.

 

And so I ask again how do you discover new bands?

Highlighted in bold. This was discussed yesterday. 

[Beedster]

5 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Yes true but ultimately it is pointless going all Don Quixote. This technology is out in the wild. Some of it is useful, some of it is deeply destructive. Ultimately we can only learn to use it and make our own decisions about what elements to embrace and what elements to resist. In the same way I never gave Cowell a penny of my money or willingly watched any of his abysmal TV shows I will avoid AI generated music.

I have to let other people make their own decisions about it though.

When sampling first hit I was studying an HND in Electronic Music Technology. We had one of the first Fairlights in the UK, in fact I think we had ours ahead of Trevor Horne (who was based just around the corner at the time). What did we use that powerful new technology for, playing the national anthem in harmonised dog barks was one of the extraordinarily creative outputs I remember. The first wave of any new technology can be pretty awful, AI will settle down as did sampling 

[BigRedX]

1 minute ago, Supernaut said:

Highlighted in bold. This was discussed yesterday. 

 

So how do you decide which gigs to go to?

 

This is not an attack, as someone who has been an avid gig goer and seeker of new music for the past 45 years I am genuinely interested. I told you my method in the post you quoted.

 

I still get to see loads of bands live although these days it is mostly bands who happen to be playing on the same bill as mine.

[Supernaut]

Normally those playing at venues within 30 minutes of where I'm located. This is playing at dedicated music venues so 300-500 capacity. 

[tegs07]

2 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Normally those playing at venues within 30 minutes of where I'm located. This is playing at dedicated music venues so 300-500 capacity. 

Local unsigned artists playing 300-500 capacity? Wow that is pretty incredible.

Edited 2 hours ago by tegs07

[BigRedX]

14 minutes ago, Beedster said:

That's increasingly not the case Steve, much of it is done in the box in offices. The digital voice processing tools these days mean that you can record a voice in a kitchen and it can be made passable. To a degree it makes music production more democratic and accessible which is a good thing, but there are negatives  

 

You don't even need post-processing. Find a decent-sized room, through a couple of duvets on a clothes horse and you have enough acoustic treatment for recording great-sounding vocals. 

[Supernaut]

1 minute ago, tegs07 said:

Unsigned artists playing 300-500 capacity? Wow that is pretty incredible.

How so? In this day and age, has you've noted in this thread, bands can use technology to gain fans without the need from labels. 

[Chienmortbb]

Possibly a slight tangent, but one of the things that is happening in pubs and clubs is that, because of cot of living concerns, footfall over the summer is way down. Prompting many to book semi-pro Karaoke singers. In this area they earn upwards of £125 per night. Easier to cover than the £250plus a band would charge. However, they are backed by the "empty orchestra", Karaoke means that in Japanese.

 

From the venue and audience perspective, the "band" are always note perfect and well-balanced, as well as easy to control volume wise. The session musicians that make the backing tracks could be the first to feel the real heat here as AI could do a passable job of the backing track presumably.

[tegs07]

Just now, Supernaut said:

How so? In this day and age, has you've noted in this thread, bands can use technology to gain fans without the need from labels. 

The one musician I know who makes a full time living wage and has been at it for years, has established audiences and booking agents tends to get around 250 to 300 max under their own steam so if the venue takes a punt on unknowns to fill that number it must be a very successful venue with a top notch team.

[ambient]

On 05/11/2025 at 10:20, BigRedX said:

 

Unfortunately IME Bandcamp is a muso/indie ghetto. Fine if all you want to do is reach other musicians and a few hardcore music fans, but nearly useless for reaching ordinary people. The sort of people you need to reach if you want to really grow your fan base.

Mogwai, 65daysofstatic, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Gilles Peterson, Bass Communion and Radiohead are just a few of the artists I can think of on Bandcamp.

 

I've never used Spotify and never will. I don't even stream music. 

 

[ambient]

On 05/11/2025 at 10:20, BigRedX said:

 

Unfortunately IME Bandcamp is a muso/indie ghetto. Fine if all you want to do is reach other musicians and a few hardcore music fans, but nearly useless for reaching ordinary people. The sort of people you need to reach if you want to really grow your fan base.

Mogwai, 65daysofstatic, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Gilles Peterson, Bass Communion and Radiohead are just a few of the artists I can think of on Bandcamp.

 

I've never used Spotify and never will. I don't even stream music. 

 

[ambient]

On 05/11/2025 at 10:20, BigRedX said:

 

Unfortunately IME Bandcamp is a muso/indie ghetto. Fine if all you want to do is reach other musicians and a few hardcore music fans, but nearly useless for reaching ordinary people. The sort of people you need to reach if you want to really grow your fan base.

Mogwai, 65daysofstatic, Peter Gabriel, Massive Attack, Gilles Peterson, Bass Communion and Radiohead are just a few of the artists I can think of on Bandcamp.

 

I've never used Spotify and never will. I don't even stream music. 

 

[prowla]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Please show me a comment I've made telling someone they're "wrong". 

Are you saying they're wrong?

[peteb]

2 hours ago, tegs07 said:

Local unsigned artists playing 300-500 capacity? Wow that is pretty incredible.

 It wasn't thirty years or so ago! 

 

Edited 3 minutes ago by peteb