Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins/Futurism. Source: Getty Images
For decades, the country music industry has presented itself as a rural cousin to the duller sounds of the city. That appears to be going out the window, as more and more country producers are adopting San Francisco’s AI over Nashville’s domestic troublemakers.
In a detailed reporting on the changes in the country’s music industry, The Verge spoke Several professional songwriters, producers, and artists spoke about the rise of AI in country music. Their responses point to a scene that is changing rapidly – and leaving human artists in the dust.
For example, songwriter Tranny Anderson called the technology “ubiquitous” in Nashville, the center of the country music industry. Anderson, who has written for artists such as Reba McEntire, said everyone is using it: “from entry-level songwriters to the top dogs.” (Sources spoken to) The Verge It has been confirmed that big wigs like Jelly Roll and Dustin Lynch are being sent demos of songs with their voices digitally synthesized.)
Interviewed by Eric Olson, a publisher The VergeThe country encourages songwriters to use AI to fetch song samples, saying it saves a lot of time in the working day. He said, “If I can give that last 20 percent to Suno and spend more time with my kids, that’s great.”
While according to reporting, AI tools like Suno can generate everything a music producer needs – lyrics, backup vocals, melodies – these are being used primarily for demo production.
For example, when rising singer-songwriter Maggie Reeves got a contract from a “major artist” with a one-day turnaround, she wrote the song on paper before submitting it to Listen, according to The VergeHis publisher told him it was “excellent”,
“It’s going straight to him,” said his publisher. At least in the country music scene, demo recording An important source of revenue for working musicians. still, Although it is an integral part of the country music ecosystem, it can be expensive. AI offers a cost-effective alternative. “I immediately saw that it (AI) could replace that,” Reeves said. The Verge,
Considering the history of country music, this is a fitting turn for the industry. As a folk music journalist Kim Ruhl sawContemporary pop-country rose to prominence as a commercial branch of American folk music. “The difference is the involvement of big business in the development of the careers of country stars,” Ruhel wrote On the question of the folk origin of the country.
In such a situation, the drive for efficiency with AI – cutting production costs and increasing profits – can be understood as the next logical step for the industry, and not as a strange deviation from the norm.
There have been many examples of “industrial progress” throughout the lifetime of pop-country. Consider the “Countrypolitan era” of the 1960s, in which producers billy sherrill The process of pumping out chart-topping pop ballads, or the “hat act” era of Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson, defined thematic consonance and this massive consolidation Of country radio.
A prime example of this – and arguably the cradle of commercial country – was the “Nashville Sound”, which came to replace the sleazy, blue-collar Honorable Tonk With mechanically produced pop hits. Instead of AI, manufacturers in this era turned to the “A Team” reliable session musician in Nashville, to maximize studio time and streamline popular songwriting formulas. The A team has contributed together thousands of tracksTo lay the groundwork for country music as a commercial industry.
So, while AI may be taking country music to a dark place, it’s actually par for the course for a business that is constantly striving for mass-market appeal above all else. just ask someone honky tonk fans,
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