The world of country music, which has been continuously built on storytelling, tradition, and raw emotion, is on the brink of an inevitable battle as artificial intelligence (AI) technology advances. From songwriting and production to AI-generated replication in voices, the industry is already experiencing subtle, but significant changes. While some view artificial intelligence as a beneficial tool that can help the creative process, others fear it may dilute the authenticity that makes the genre so beloved. The question remains: will artificial intelligence be a helpful companion to country music, or will it alter the traits that is commercially accepted?
Artificial Intelligence in Songwriting: Boost in Creativity or Threat to Authenticity?
One of the most evident ways artificial intelligence is influencing country music, but music specifically, is in the realm of songwriting. Traditionally, country songs are known for their storytelling ability through authentic lyrics that bring consumers back to a time in their lives. Artificial intelligence programs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, are now capable of generating lyrics based on prompts that are entered by the songwriter. While these tools can certainly speed up the songwriting process, there are some genuine concerns that they may lack the emotional depth and lived experiences necessary to create truly moving music. Additionally, these tools can often over-generalize aspects of country songs, which feel very commercial and inauthentic.
A country music songwriter or artist might use artificial intelligence to generate ideas, melodic rhythms, or a few chord progressions when experiencing writer’s block. Artificial intelligence can analyze a vast amount of previously released country songs and identify patterns in successful songwriting. If an AI-generated song lacks the emotional resonance of a song that was written authentically, will listeners connect with it the same way they do with songwriters that came before the creation of AI tools? Also, many of these AI tools pull from previous songs already released into the country music genre. For example, to test this, I gave ChatGPT a prompt similar to a song that I knew, and it copied the rhyming style and song aspects almost identically to the previous song that was released.
Some aspiring songwriters have already experimented with this, as they have used AI-generated lyrics, but tweaked and refined them into more personable, polished compositions. In some cases, artificial intelligence could serve as a helpful collaborator rather than a replacement. Still, if labels and artists begin relying too heavily on AI-generated songs, the genre’s authenticity and integrity could become compromised and be at risk for failing.
Artificial Intelligence Voice Cloning
One of the most groundbreaking applications of artificial intelligence in country music has been the use of voice cloning for various artist. Artificial intelligence voice synthesis technology has been able to recreate a singer’s voice with pretty resounding accuracy, allowing for new recordings from artists who are no longer able to sing at a high level. While this can be an interesting way to preserve and celebrate the legends of the country music genre, it has also raised some ethical concerns in the country music community.
The most recent example and the pioneer of using this technology is country music icon Randy Travis, whose career was altered by a massive stroke that he suffered in 2013. For many years, fans thought they would never hear new music from the baritone-heavy Travis again. However, with the help of artificial intelligence, his team was able to create a new song featuring his actual voice. Through the analysis of his past recordings, artificial intelligence was able to successfully recreate the tone of his vocal, where it brought his voice back to life in a way that felt both unethical and cool.
While this use of artificial intelligence has brought some joy to fans, it has also sparked debate amongst others in the community. Is it ethical to use artificial intelligence to generate music from artists who can no fully participate in the creative process of the song or album? Furthermore, if this technology becomes widely available to consumers, there is potential for individuals or companies to misuse it, where they could potentially create songs in an artist’s voice without consent from the artist or the record label? The dangers of this technology go beyond just concerns regarding artistic procedures. In a society that is threatened by the use of deepfakes, there’s potential for this technology to be used with malicious intent in impersonation for fraudulent or exploitative purposes.
AI in the Production of Country Music
Beyond songwriting and voice cloning, AI is also reshaping the way that country music is being produced. Some of these tools can analyze a song’s composition, suggest instrumentation, and various other ways as well. This can be a game-changer for independent artists who lack the financial ability or resources to hire musicians or producers for a session.
However, this has also raised another ethical dilemma. If AI can assist in generating music that sounds somewhat like human-created songs, what happens to the session musicians and producers themselves? Session musicians, producers, and mixing engineers could see their roles take a different role or be completely extinguished as AI now has the ability to take over tasks that once required years of skill and expertise. This has lead to the community worrying that this could leas to oversaturation of the same song that lack human knowledge.
The country music industry has always embraced technological advancements, such as technologies like digital streaming. However, the challenge with AI lies in ensuring that this technology is used in a respectable, ethical way rather than replacing the heart and soul of the genre.
Concluding Thoughts of AI
At the end of the day, AI is a tool. It will be used in ways that will ultimately depend on how humans use it, whether that is ethically or unethically. Can AI become a helpful assistant to humans in tasks like these? Absolutely. Can it also pose as a threat to our job security? Absolutely. It is just a matter of time before AI starts to dominate the mainstream, so it is important for us as consumers to be cautious on what to believe as true or AI-generated. If you are interested in checking out my other blogs, click here. If you would like to sign up and get exclusive content in my email, click here.
