As younger listeners grow less loyal to artists and more responsive to algorithmic discovery, the power dynamics of the music industry are quietly shifting. The rise of the “swipe, swipe, swipe”-obsessed Gen-Z and Gen Alpha has brought a new concern by some artists that this will only help propel and fast-track record labels turning more towards AI. The result could mean a major transformation within the music industry as a whole, that may have detrimental effects for not only artists, but the music broadcasting industry should they end up on the wrong side of the Musicians vs. AI war.
It’s no secret that social media has had a direct effect on attention habits, especially for the younger generations. Many times what happens on Friday is old news come Monday. This is increasingly being seen on the music side as well, as labels are using listener habits and data to make both creative and commercial decisions, for better or worse.
This is no more evident than Spotify. The platform’s massively popular “New Music Friday” playlist is seen by many record labels as a “must-have” for their artists new songs, as it guarantees people will hear it. How long they will actually stay and listen to the song however is a different question and one that Spotify significantly uses to determine if the song will be recommended to more people or not.
”Spotify tracks whether a song is played for at least 30 seconds [or skipped]. If listeners stay past this mark, its’ a positive signal tot eh Spotify algorithm. Plus, that’s when you start earning royalties,” Pitch-US.com reports. On TikTok, that attention-span is much shorter, sometimes just 3 to 5 seconds!
Algorithm Changing Writing Habits
What I like to call “The Spotify Effect” has had a direct impact on many artists writing style and creative process: Make sure to get to that catchy riff or hook ASAP.
“Let’s face it, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ could never be released today, let alone get played on any [radio] station that isn’t Classic Rock,” one radio insider told me.
With the music industry (as well as let’s be honest, every industry) increasingly focusing on data, the rapid change in listening habits that comes in fleeting viral bursts, may change business models. If the majority of new music is being consumed for lesser periods of time, it makes sense to produce it and release it just as quickly.
The quickest way to do that would be thru AI, especially if volume and adaptability matter more than an artist’s legacy.
Broadcast Platforms Main Concern
The push to Artificial Intelligence within the music industry has sparked a massive backlash from many artists as well as fans.
As I previously reported, Spotify faced tremendous criticism, including a viral campaign of people cancelling their subscriptions, after they allowed a fake, AI-band to garner up hundreds of millions of streams and placements. The result was an announcement on Spotify’s end to better inform users if the music they are listening to was artificially created.
Radio stations will soon find themselves in the same predicament.
It’s only a matter of time until AI-generated music reaches the new music charts and when it does, they will have a tough decision to make.
Existential Crisis or Enormous Opportunity?
Do stations risk alienating and losing their (declining) listener base by trying to stay relevant to a younger audience by giving into the AI revolution, despite how polarizing it may be to their loyal, more music-appreciative audience? It’s a tough line to walk and one that music broadcast has to choose wisely.
I’d argue that this actually presents an opportunity for some stations or platforms to gain an edge and listener base by declaring they are “The Anti-AI” station, where listeners won’t ever hear AI-generated or created music. Music fans will appreciate the loyalty to authenticity.
Those stations better do so sooner than later however, as recent artist catalog acquisitions by record labels may hint that the AI push is quickly approaching.
Why Are So Many Labels Buying Artist Catalogs?
In the last few years, we have seen a massive push by major labels to purchase artist’s back catalogs.
In 2020, Bob Dylan sold 100% of his publishing catalog to Universal Music Publishing for a reported deal worth $250-300 million. Less than two years later, he sold his entire music catalog to Sony Music for a reported $150-200 million, according to Forbes.
But it’s not just older musicians selling their song rights. Justin Bieber, The Killers, Imagine Dragons and hundreds of others have sold either partial or entire aspects of their music catalog as well. From an artist’s standpoint, it makes sense – they might as well cash in on their hard work and get paid hundreds of millions of dollars for it. However, for the labels, there may be an ulterior motive.
“Why do you think there as such a huge push to buy up catalogs in the last few years?” Boys Like Girls lead singer and popular producer Martin Johnson recently asked me. “So they can dump them in AI. It’s all an AI play.”
Although there’s no definitive evidence of labels doing that just yet, Johnson may be onto something.
Outlets Will Eventually Have to Choose Between Authenticity and AI
As AI models continue to improve at an alarmingly quick rate, so too does their ability to recreate or reimagine music in the style of proven hits. Record labels have spent BILLIONS of dollars purchasing many of those artists’ catalogs, which could become a massive business leverage should they dump that into AI datasets.
Imagine a 2026 version of the catchy “Build Me Up Buttercup” for a generation that never heard it before? Get your dancing shoes on! Only this time you aren’t dancing in front of The Foundations like some were in the 60s, you are dancing to a computer code.
For the younger generations that claim to be so against artificial intelligence, they may not realize that it’s their own listening and viewing habits that are directly responsible for the rise of AI within music.
Thoughts? Comments? Reach out to me. @TheGunzShow on all social platforms or TheGunzShow@gmail.com.
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