JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum The new great thing

No, it isn't tricking anyone. It is teaching them how to be CREATIVE. It is removing money from the equation. Most of the WHININH is coming from producers, engineers, session players and people who are their friends. Their skills have always been enhanced by the tech they choose. But now the tech has grown to a point where they aren't needed, especially in the development phase. Now, a kid who can't afford an instrument can access a free A.I. on any connected device and get their creative ideas down. Kids have ALWAYS had musical toys where they push a button and music plays. They did not lose their creativity because their speak and spell played a sound with the push of a button. It is a stepping stone. I wrote lyrics as early as 5 or 6. I did not have my first access to ANY instrument until I was in College and the Frat had a grand piano. I taught myself to play. I took out a loan upon graduation and bought 2 cheap keyboards and eventually 15 more. I also had tons of other gear. I wrote 2300 songs from 1985 (first access to a piano) and 2000 when I quit cold turkey to focus exclusively on helping OTHER writers in a myriad of ways. This message board, which I rarely used to do more than offer help to others, is one example. But most of my time was spent creating live shows for ANYONE to play, no matter how good or bad. Why? Because it wasn't right that developing people, including hobbyists, had so few (or something no) places to play a song for other humans. We did THOUSANDS of shows featuring up to 77 different artists because we never turned ANYONE away. A.I. now gives EVERYONE a chance to make pro quality recordings. Can they still make GARBAGE? Yes. I have yet to hear a good song come from someone just pushing a button. A.I. lyrics are awful and lame. But they DO teach people nonetheless. The same entry level people will make music with the tools available and will STILL suck until they don't suck.

Go back and listen to all the terrible recordings from 25 years here. If you had money, you could release pro recordings of bad songs. A.I. is not different, minus the money. But now instead of SILENCE, poor people get to participate alongside everyone else.

I had ZERO pro recordings of my music. I did however have 2 major label record deals. In the first, they kept the demos they paid for when I backed out of the deal in late 1992. The second ended worse, in the studio after finishing the first 6 songs, my vocalist died. The studio kept those recordings as well. I got on hear 2 on the phone. Now I have 2300 recorded into a cassette deck live, and had a couple dozen recorded into a multi track but without outboard gear (not even a reverb) they didn't sound very dynamic. I have taken those cassette demos and inputed the first 2 minutes into Suno, gotten a full version of the song which copies the music, melody and full lyric and finishes it out into a much upgraded quality. Then I edit and redo over and over until I get sonically interesting versions. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from my industry friends who want me to do a full album using live players. If I ever get the money, I would love to do it. Meanwhile I have already created 125 finished songs that are perfect pre-production demos. I will never have the budget to record that many, but I plan to upgrade all 2300 songs (plus the dozens of new ones I have been writing since starting this) and it has been a blast. If I get my industry connections to donate their skills to make an album with me, that will be fun, but the net result is much the same. I will get great guitar work from my famous cousin, I will get amazing keyboard work from my buddy who is Fogerty's Keyboard player, I will get great drum tracks from my buddy who just retired after decades with the Doobie brothers and I have several major label vocalists who have volunteered to sing something. All that will be a dream come true. I even have a famous producer who offered to produce a track. But the net result will really be NO DIFFERENCE! I wrote a song, I will have a finished version and in the end, some cranky message board user will say it stinks or will deem it a classic. A.I. or those live players change NOTHING about it. Both are fun processes, and if I had unlimited money I would likely do them all with high end players and professionals. But it is still, my song plus technology wielded by smart humans = results. I would never suggest my "real recording" was more valid than a great A.I. song, just as I have no problem admiring people who write better music than I do regardless of their process. It moves me or it doesn't. Soon enough, all music will be on demand, and all of it will be unique to the desires of the person it is made for. The "industry" which has used every trick and tactic to keep music FROM people that isn't under their control will most vanish to the hell whence it came. When there is no value in "selling" music, then it can return to being a gift to humanity in ANY form, regardless of how it was made and by whom.

Remember, it is rare for you to even know the people who make the music you love. Communities are a rare exception. You can share with your friends and if you manage to please them, how much more rewarding is that than some faceless, nameless, random click on the internet? If you can't perform live for people, a community dynamic is likely all you have left after immediate family and friends. I wish those of you here would start to appreciate the positives.