73% of producers think AI music generators could replace them in some capacity

The proliferation of AI technology in recent months has been nothing short of astounding. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t at least heard of ChatGPT, despite the software only launching in November 2022, less than a year ago.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has been hard to ignore for most, particularly those working in the music industry. There’s now tools to assist producers with mixing, and even programmes that allow musicians to write entirely new vocal lines that sound exactly like well-established vocalists.

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Naturally, any tech which experiences such a fast rise in use within an industry tends to provoke strong opinions among those who work in that industry.

In a new survey, the team at BPB have questioned over 1,500 producers on their thoughts about AI in music, yielding some thought-provoking takeaways.

Intriguingly, despite an often negative discourse surrounding AI in the mainstream media – owing largely to its potential to put people out of work – only 17.3 percent of the producers surveyed think negatively about the tech. On the other hand, 34.8 percent see it as a force for good, while the largest group (47.9 percent) have a neutral point of view.

While the neutral group makes up the largest number of responders, it’s interesting that more producers see AI as a positive than a negative to the world of music.

And despite the surprisingly low percentage of producers who view AI in a negative light, a whopping 73.1 percent of surveyed producers think AI music generators could replace human music producers in the future, at least to some extent.

Which raises the controversial topic of copyright and how it should be implemented in AI-generated or music. In the survey, a substantial 36.8 percent of producers think AI-generated music should exist within the public domain, free of any copyright restrictions.

“Some musicians and music producers are eager to see what further developments AI technology could bring, while others completely reject the possibility of adding AI tools into their workflow,” writes BPB.

“Two major concerns are that using AI music software could produce an avalanche of unoriginal music and cause copyright issues. As for the latter, it all comes down to putting legislation in place to cover all bases and protect creators and musicians.”