JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Brian Austin Whitney Blog A.I. article published June 4th

I look at the music created by an AI machine as a "work for hire". I am paying someone to produce something for me.

Back when I first decided to become a songwriter I remember seeing advertisements for a songwriting service that, for 250 dollars, would set your lyrics (or even just an idea) to music and create a finished demo for you to keep and/or sell, with you as the copyright owner. At the time I thought it must be a pretty bad song to only cost 250. I didn't have 250 to try it out, so I don't know.

A few years after that I met a guy who does a critique for hire service. He told me he knew enough about song structure and what the country music industry is looking for to write a song about literally anything. It was the idea that makes the difference. He was very careful not to tell me exactly what to change because that would be co- writing. So, for a fee, he told me the lines that should be fixed, but not what to say. Which is like asking GPS how do I get to a particular address and it says "go east and then south". I can tell if a lyric is "off", but not always why or how to fix it. The nice thing about SNUO and AI song crafting sites is that I can see my errors instantly. I can hear the line sung in whatever genre I want and adjust it right then. So far what I have used it for is to fix the lyrics I wrote years ago but abandoned. The fact that it comes up with some interesting music at times is a bonus. I may use some of it or may not. Either way I paid for it. Not much, but I paid.

I know there are purists in everything. Clapton quit several bands because they drifted away from the blues. I remember arguing with someone (on a now defunct songwriting site) about using a rhyming dictionary or even a regular dictionary. He thought they were cheating. I also know there are those who take every shortcut they can to reach the finish line. I personally don't think there is a finish line and if anyone wants to either do it it the hard way or do it the easy way, that's up to them. We all have our own measure of success.