I’ve been reading Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist recently, and it’s an excellent book. If you’ve ever suspected that Spotify might be up to some underhanded shenanigans, Pelly will prove you right at every turn.
Among other aesthetically and morally questionable practices Pelly describes is that of commissioning a massive amount anodyne music by fake artists to fill out their “curated” playlists and stations. Rather than pay actual artists the full (yet already measley) royalty for music that might fit in on a Chill Study Music playlist, for example, they pay musicians a pittance to record bland tracks that will blend into the background and generate millions of streams.
Of course, that’s assuming they pay actual musicians at all. With Generative AI gaining a massive foothold in the industry, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Spotify dispenses with paying that pittance to musicans altogether. Which brings me to my latest Spotify discovery, Jeremy Bestview.
Jeremy Bestview came on my radar just a few minutes ago when another musician asked me to play his song on AMS Radio. Curious about this other musician, I looked him up on Bandcamp (no dice) and then on Spotify where I saw his music on several playlists with titles like Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals and Acoustic Morning Focus.
Digging a little deeper (by which I mean clicking on a playlist), I discovered Jeremy Bestview, who looks like this:
I obviously don’t have to tell you that this image is AI generated. And while I can’t prove that he’s an AI-generated fantasy or that his music is also algorithmically spawned, I’m going to assume that it is–despite the protestations of his artist bio, which describes his music as, among other things, “honest.”
I gave one of Jeremy Bestview’s tracks a listen. There’s nothing bad about, but there’s nothing particularly interesting about it either. It’s just kind of there. Which, I suppose, is the point. It blends into the background like wallpaper or carbon monoxide.
Most likely, Jeremy Bestview is not a Spotify creation. If he were, his streaming numbers would be in the millions, and his top songs are in the high ten-thousands. But the fact remains that he’s obviously (to my eyes and ears, anyway) AI-generated–and Spotify is okay with that.
As someone who loves music, my concern is that this trend will continue. Platforms like Spotify will continue to proffer a sound product that is increasingly computerized (and decreasinigly human). Musicians and music will suffer as a result. Algorithms will crowd the field, and music will lose any sense of invention.
Which isn’t to say there’s no hope. Artists–real artists–will always buck the system, and I’ll keep looking for those who do. I’ll interview them on this blog and play their music on AMS Radio. And, of course, I’ll keep pushing my own boundaries as a recording artist as well. I’ll do my best to keep being human in a world that wants to turn all of us into unthinking robots.
I’ll leave you with a track by an artist I interviewed a while back. His name is Kelly Kintner (and he’s not the guy who submitted the track I mentioned earlier that led me to my troubling discovery of Jeremy Bestview). He has a cool blog, which I recommend reading, and he’s the kind of artist who isn’t looking to play the Spotify game of substituting streams for quality.
7 responses to “Really, Spotify?”
AI-generated fake music certainly is a worrisome trend. Unfortunately, I think you’re right we will see more of it.
The other day, I came across The Velvet Sundown. Admittedly, I didn’t realize they are fake and almost would have featured them. But when I conducted some research, I came across reports about rumors they weren’t a real band. Finally, they admitted it. Here’s a related recent story in Vice:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/ai-band-velvet-sundown-spokesperson/
Thanks, Chrisitan. I’d heard of the Velvet Sundown, too, but I had not read the article. Thanks for the link!
Admittedly, I liked the song and had earmarked it for inclusion in my new music post for tomorrow. But I simply cannot support fake music!
This is really disgusting, and makes me want to quit Spotify altogether.
It really is. Which is why I appreciate your blog… I’m just glad to know that there are real people who truly love real music!
I believe people who genuinely love music will abandon Spotify and other platforms that peddle this stuff. AI-generated reminds me of the Muzak fad of music as aural wallpaper, and there’s probably always going to be a segment of audience willing to consume it, but I think people crave genuineness and a real connection.
I’m also reminded of the late 80’s & early 90’s, when drum machines became common and music magazines speculated about human drummers being replaced. Ultimately, they became another tool in our arsenal. Here’s hoping…
Good point about drum machines! And you’re right about Spotify. As the platform pushes more watered-down fare on the masses, listeners who really want to listen to music will drift away.