Artificial intelligence has slipped into almost all areas: work, health, transport and even our leisure. It is no longer content to optimize mechanical tasks, it ventures into the world of emotions and creation. Some already fear the disappearance of whole professions, replaced by lines of code. Music, this universal language which has always belonged to humans, is now crossed by a disturbing question: what if the singers lost their place in front of the AI?
In short
- The AI already generates hits, like Heart On My Sleeve, cloning Drake and The Weeknd.
- Grimes and Killy offer their votes, promising royalties to song creators.
- Timbaland launches Tata, first artist of a musical genre called “A-Pop”.
- Grammys allow hybrid works, but refuse the pieces entirely generated by artificial intelligence.
When the AI composes and sings: the temptation of automation
AI, already at the heart of the debates on American campuses, also causes strong tremors in the music industry. Applications like Udio and Suno allow you to create a complete song today in a few seconds. The process is simple: we type an instruction, and AI composes a melody, generates a voice and adds words.
This facility destabilizes artists as much as producers, who see unexpected competition arise. If technology seduces by its speed, it also raises tenacious concern: will soon be witnessing The end of pop stars as we know them?
This is how an Austrian DJ, nicknamed Butterbro, produced a Schlager piece entitled Verknallt in Einen Talahon who rose to 48ᵉ place in the German classification in 2024. The story made a big noise: the first time that a title fully generated by IA managed to enter an official top.
The most striking example is probably Heart on My Sleevea song using vocal imitations of Drake and The Weeknd. It has become viral before being removed from the platforms under pressure from the majors.
The debate is launched: can we accept thatA synthetic voice imitates our favorite stars To the point of deceiving the listeners? For the musician Martin Clancy, the answer is clear:
What is at stake are things we want for acquired: listening to music created by humans, seeing people living and recognizing that it is a special skill.
AI in front of pop stars: between opportunity and cultural appropriation
Some artists choose to embrace AI. The singer Grimes launched Elf.Tech, a platform that allows you to use her cloned voice with promise to share income. “” The extraordinary feeling that the creation of a beautiful work has long been inaccessible for many people, because it required a lot of time, energy and years of technical training. I find it precious that there is today a tool that allows, when you have a good idea, to create something beautiful and to have access to it », She marted.
Canadian rapper Killy went even further, offering fans to clone his voice, promising 50 % of royalties for any viral song. But this enthusiasm contrasts with the criticisms of other artists. Cadence Weapon recalls that vocal reproduction particularly affects black artists: Drake's voices, Kanye West or Notorious Big are cloned for covers, a phenomenon denounced as a new form of musical “blackface”.
At the same time, AI serves as a marketing argument. Producer Timbaland unveiled “Tata”a singer generated by AI, supposed to embody the first icon of the “A-Pop”. For him:
I no longer produce only songs. I produce systems, stories and stars from nothing. [TaTa] is not an avatar. She is not a character. Tata is a living, learning and autonomous musical artist, created with AI. Tata is the beginning of something bigger. She is the first artist of a new generation. A-POP is the next cultural evolution, and Tata is the first icon.
A declaration that seduces the curious, but which sparked a rain of criticism for cultural appropriation.
A mutation industry: Grammys, Tiktok and musical saturation
The market does not wait. Nearly 49,000 songs are published every day on Spotify. In this context, AI is still accelerating the pace. Tiktok launched Ripple, a music generator that transforms a simple hum into a full song.
The argument is clear: to make musical creation accessible to all, as Garageband did in 2004.
But this abundance also arouses fears. For Jacques Greene, we live a critical moment when music, television and even journalism seem to lose their value. This devaluation is not only a question of artistic quality: it translates the way in which AI shakes up all the creative industries, by producing much faster than a human and by saturating the diffusion channels.
Some key marks
- 2023: Heart on My Sleeve With cloned voices of Drake and The Weeknd becomes viral;
- 2024: Verknallt in Einen Talahonfirst hit IA classified in Germany;
- 2025: Timbaland launches “Tata”, an IA artist supposed to embody a-pop;
- Spotify: 49,000 new songs per day, often drowned in the mass.
Faced with this transfer, institutions react. The Grammys have decided: the pieces incorporating artificial intelligence remain eligible, but a purely artificial title cannot be rewarded. A way of preserving human value, while recognizing that AI has already become an essential player.
Music workers are not alone in feeling threatened: all sectors are crossed by this rise in AI. However, some analysts believe that blockchain could exceed artificial intelligence and create up to 1.5 million jobs by 2030. The battle of technologies is far from over.
Maximize your Cointribne experience with our 'Read to Earn' program! For each article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start accumulating advantages.
