Music creates the soundtrack of people’s lives. But with artificial intelligence as the next high-tech frontier, who will determine the track listing: people or computer systems?

AI is already shaking up the music industry with its capacity to alter and create musical compositions. Last month, rap star Drake released “Taylor Made (Freestyle),” a track that featured AI-generated vocals imitating the voice of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur (the song was later removed after Shakur’s estate took legal action.)

In November, The Beatles treated fans to the band’s final song “Now and Then” and used AI technology to extract John Lennon's voice from a late-1970s demo recording.

And in a shocking move, record label Universal Music Group removed the catalogs of its artists from social media platform TikTok in January, citing the publication of AI-generated music as one of the reasons for its exit (the companies have since reached a new licensing agreement that will see the return of UMG music to the online platform.)

As artists and labels grapple with AI, everyday listeners are also left to contemplate the future of music consumption. And music lovers are both intrigued and perplexed by this computerized tomorrow.

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Aneesa Sheikh, a 21-year-old singer and student at New York University, is not fazed by the emergence of AI in music, given the growing influence of major tech companies on everyday social life.

“Music is at the vein of everything in the world,” Sheikh says. “And with Big Tech creating multiple avenues and changing the dynamic of social settings in how we interact with each other, music is of course going to be affected by that.”

Tailor-made playlists, improved music discovery stand out as AI benefits

In its latest efforts at AI integration, streaming giant Spotify announced the beta rollout of its AI Playlist feature in April. Spotify Premium users in the United Kingdom and Australia can now create hyper-specific playlists to match their listening mood by simply typing a unique description into the app, which will prompt the AI Playlist to offer users relevant songs.

In contrast with the gradual personalization seen in activity-based algorithms, such as Spotify's taste profiles, Sheikh says the instantaneous recommendations of AI for music curation can be a plus for listeners.

“We can have customized playlisting much quicker than having to go and search for songs and create playlists,” Sheikh says. “We live in a very quick-paced world, and so it takes less time to do that, so we’ll have what type of music we like.”

NYU student Tyler Ponticiello, who has made use of Spotify’s AI DJ and Daylist features, said these AI-powered tools have aided his musical discoveries and helped maintain his niche listening taste.

“I don’t listen a ton to Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo and all these huge artists right now," the 20-year-old says. “I listen to smaller, indie artists, so for me, that’s a really important method of discovering new artists.”

While the long-term impact of AI is uncertain, its potential to broaden the horizons of music consumers through personalized recommendations is notable, says Jerry Del Colliano, a music professor at NYU Steinhardt. “When AI can learn what works for us and feed it back to us, that can be good,” he says.

AI has potential to distort listeners’ perceptions, dehumanize music

Last April, the song “Heart on My Sleeve” went viral for its use of AI-generated vocals that replicated the musical likenesses of Drake and R&B singer The Weeknd. The track’s impersonation of the singers stunned fans on social media, with some speculating if it was an authentic song.

Ponticiello says this blurring of the lines is “kind of scary” and raises concerns about AI’s effect on younger listeners and their music literacy.

“With Gen Alpha being so exposed to all these AI artists and songs, is that going to be their new normal?” Ponticiello says. “Are they not going to be able to identify a true musician versus an AI model or system?”

'Heart on My Sleeve':The AI-generated song mimicking Drake and The Weeknd's voices was submitted for Grammys

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow shared a similar sentiment with USA TODAY in March when she described her "terrified" reaction to an AI-generated John Mayer demo. "I’m an older artist, and I’m concerned about the evolution of humanity," she said.

Adding to this murky landscape is AI’s ability to evade detection online, Sheikh says, which can make it difficult for consumers to manage the presence of AI in their music.

“It’s not like you’re getting a speeding ticket, and a police officer or camera can see you,” Sheikh says. “There’s people behind screens that you don’t even know what they look like creating things with AI, producers and artists with stage names (and) we don’t know anything about them.”

Colliano warns that the artificiality of AI-generated music could present a tipping point for listeners.

“Once it gets to the point where the automated nature of the presentation or the song is less human, and we’re certainly going to see more of that, I think that’s concerning,” Colliano says. “Because we just don’t know what the outcome of that may be.”

AI may have musical promise, though it lacks heart

Music and tech innovation have long come together to find the right harmony, and AI may be another chord in that familiar song.

The rise of the MP3 file in the late ‘90s and early 2000s ushered in a craze for iPods and MP3 players powered by digital downloads. And in the 2010s, the advent of audio streaming set the stage for on-demand music libraries with streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music.

“Music is always about pieces of technology being reimagined and repurposed and used for something other than they were invented for,” says Martin Clancy, author of “Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem.” “What’s different now is the technology is happening really, really fast.”

Listen to the AI-assisted song:The Beatles' last song 'Now and Then' is wistful, quintessential John Lennon

As AI accelerates to the forefront of music culture, Sheikh says it can be a boon to listeners when it’s used by artists as a production tool, as seen with The Beatles’ “Now and Then.” “That’s one of the best ways AI is being used, to kind of enhance the work that’s already there,” she says.

But while AI can be used to polish up listeners’ new favorite tunes, Ponticiello says the technology has yet to recreate the raw emotion that bonds artists and fans in music.

“There’s that expression and connection that you get from hearing somebody perform something or write something and be involved in that process,” Ponticiello says. “And so, to take that out of it no longer feels like music. It no longer feels like art.”

Contributing: KiMi Robinson and Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY

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