'People can tell the difference': Is AI-generated music threatening human musicians?

John Maytham, standing in for CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit, speaks to Sean Brokensha - a.k.a. The Music Guru.

Listen below: 

Is there a place for AI-generated music and bands, or do they pose a threat to human musicians?

One example fuelling this conversation is a band that has amassed over half a million Spotify listeners, despite having no visible presence on social media, and a biography that seems suspiciously machine-written.

This has raised questions about the authenticity of some music currently circulating on streaming platforms.

Brokensha notes that while AI-generated tracks might sound impressive at first, a deeper listen often reveals that “something feels off or missing.”

From a technical standpoint, if you isolate different components of an AI-produced track, such as instruments, vocals, and effects, you may find that the vocals are human, but the instrumentation, like guitars or keyboards, can feel "like a mess."

This may be due to AI’s limitations in separating and synthesizing those elements clearly.

Brokensha believes AI "turns music into a formula" which can be "demotivating" for artists and "kills" their creativity.

But Brokensha remains hopeful.

“People can tell the difference,” he says, expressing confidence that listeners will ultimately gravitate toward the authenticity and emotional depth of human-made music that AI can't provide.

"In the same way you go through a drive-thru and you eat something and it satisfies you... ultimately, it's not the same as a steak dinner."

- Sean Brokensha, The Music Guru

"Because AI is new, there is no real [legal] protection in the UK or the US, but there are big moves being made. Major labels are starting to sue players like Spotify, Suno... because what they're doing is robbing their profit and artists of royalties."

- Sean Brokensha, The Music Guru

"It harms the artist big time, it's killing creativity. It's demotivating artists and turning music into a formula. If you look at AI-generated clips or movies, you can tell the difference."

- Sean Brokensha, The Music Guru

"There's certain things that AI can't replicate such as pauses, the emotions the artist was feeling, environmental conditions, it's all sorts of things that goes into a great song."

- Sean Brokensha, The Music Guru

"AI is not going to affect people who make music... they will continue to pick up a guitar and make music, that is my optimism. We might get fooled, but the sense of relief I feel is that we will know as people the difference and we will choose the difference."

- Sean Brokensha, The Music Guru

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.