AI music has finally beaten hat-act humans, but sounds nothing like victory Remember when the hottest news in the schoolyard was which band was the hottest this week? Those days are back, baby. An AI-generated band called Breaking Rust has just hit the top of the Billboard Country chart in the US with a song called Walk My Walk. Some questions will never be answered – could it ever release a sea shanty …
David Gerard has already pointed out that it wasn't The Billboard country chart; it was the "Billboard country digital song sales chart", and all that was necessary to achieve the ranking was to spend $3k buying the song from digital music stores. Nobody even needed to listen to it once.
Generative AI doesn't need to be normalised by uncritical reporting on top of everything else.
There's nothing in what he wrote to prove that the numbers WERE fake, though.
"They" have a popular youtube channel, and loads of comments. Are some bots? Yeah. Not all are though.
And have you listened to the song? Formulaic, and a bit cheesy (especially when you listen to the other tracks by the "band"), but no more so than a lot of the non-AI slop that has entered the charts since Stock, Aitkin, and Waterman killed music in the 80's. In fact, it's a lot better.
"Generative AI doesn't need to be normalised by uncritical reporting on top of everything else."
Sure. but there's also a danger of snobbish complacency and denial - especially in the music industry. The "song" exists - whether its listens are real or not. And when you think about all the slop that does get popular, are "mainstream" listens all that relevant?
If you ignore Stock, Aitkin and Waterman, some good stuff came out of the 80's across a lot of genres. Some of it even made it pretty high in the charts. (I'd rather Fleetwood Mac than "Jack", whatever that means.... but the 80's brought us more Queen and Bowie tracks, and some great electronic music, including early New Order "Power, Corruption and Lies", the Human League, Ultravox, and the 80's faded out into the KLF, who are responsible for me having heard of Tammy Wynette...)
Agreed on the '80s not being a wasteland, even though they're before my time; this weekend I had a very strange experience though: I live in the US, and went to my local Waitrose-esque supermarket (it's a Whole Foods), where the in-store music for as long as I was there was: There is a Light That Never Goes Out, followed by Made of Stone.
I tried to spot a 50-ish-year-old Mancunian who might be in charge of the track list but none was obviously present.
Around New Years 2020/21 I was in the Sonoma Whole Foods talking to one of the employees when the unforgettable strains of 1977's Elton Motello song Jet Boy, Jet Girl came over the background music. I looked at the 20-something guy and asked him if he had any idea what was being played. He shrugged & said he'd never heard it before ... Most of the 60 and 70-somethings in the store were quite amused, but one old biddy threatened mayhem if they played it again in her hearing. Poor thing.
The employee told me that the tunage was played through a 160G(??) iPod Classic, set on shuffle.
It's worth covering that bit of nuance - but the song still has 3 million streams on Spotify and is showing up in the Spotify viral 50 USA chart.
Clearly the purchases have been done tactically to generate momentum. how much of those streams were driven by the headlines and the sales vs organic
Lament by King Crimson:
I guess I tried to show you how
I'd take the crowd with my guitar
And businessmen would clap their hands
And clip another fat cigar
And publishers would spread the news
And print my music far and wide
All the kids who played the blues
Would learn my licks with a bottleneck slide
But now it seems the bubble's burst
Although you know there was a time
When love songs gathered in my head
With poetry in every line
And strong men strove to hold the doors
With my friends, I passed that age
People stomped on dirty floors
Before I trod the rock 'n' roll stage
I'll thank the man who's on the phone
And if he got some time to spend
The problem I'll explain once more
And indicate a sum to lend
That ten percent is now a joke
Maybe 30, even 35
I'll say my daddy's had a stroke
He'd have one now, if he only was alive
I like the way you look at me
You're laughing too down there inside
I took my chance and you took yours
You crewed my ship, we missed the tide
I like the way the music goes
A few good guys who can play it right
I like the way it moves my toes
Say it when you wanna go and dance all night
Source: Musixmatch
I asked Grok to write a country style song for the farmers a few weeks ago. This was what it came up with:
(Verse 1)
Out on the farm, tariffs hit hard,
Fertilizers up 30%, breakin' my yard.
Steel for the tractor, costs risin' high,
Machinery parts, kiss profits goodbye.
(Chorus)
Oh, Trump's trade war, what a bitter pill,
Lost China soybeans, bills I can't fill.
USAID cuts, aid rice gone away,
Brazil's takin' over, stealin' my pay.
(Verse 2)
Beef to the EU, down 20% more,
Retaliatory hits, closin' the door.
Subsidies help some, but long-term they say,
70% hope for a brighter day.
(Outro)
Shifts might be permanent, recovery slim,
US farmers hurt, while others win.
(348 chars)(Verse 1)
Out on the farm, tariffs hit hard,
Fertilizer prices up 30%, leavin' us scarred.
Steel for the tractor, costs risin' high,
John Deere sales droppin', under this sky.
(Chorus)
Oh, retaliatory blues, exports down low,
Soybeans to China, 39% no-go.
USAID cuts, aid rice gone away,
Billions in losses, day after day.
(Verse 2)
Brazil's gainin' ground, takin' our share,
While we hope for long-term, some say it's there.
70% farmers see strength down the line,
But short-term pain's real, in this heartland of mine.
When I pointed out that there was insufficient Yeehaw! this was its 2nd attempt:
Yeehaw! Alright, partner, let's saddle up and add some extra cowboy flair. What exactly needs more rootin'-tootin' energy?Alright, partner! Let's crank up the yeehaw in this here ditty. Revised version:
(Verse 1)
Out on the ranch, tariffs hittin' hard, yeehaw!
Fertilizer up 30%, scarin' the hogs, oh lawd.
Steel for the tractor, prices sky-high,
Machinery parts, kiss them profits goodbye.
(Chorus)
Oh, Trump's trade war, what a wild rideව, yeehaw!
Lost them soybeans to China, bills I can't fill.
USAID cuts, aid rice done flew away,
Brazil's stealin' the show, ruinin' my day.
(Verse 2)
Beef to the EU, down 20% more, gosh darn!
Retaliatory hits, slammin' the barn door.
Subsidies help a bit, but long-term they say,
70% hopin' for a sunnier day.
(Outro)
Shifts might stick, recovery lookin' slim,
US farmers hurtin', while others win. Yeehaw!
How's that for some extra kick?
My robot up and left me, last September.
Because it said, "I don't understand its pain."
And that if I really loved it, I'd remember.
Not to leave it all alone out in the rain.
_________
Oh my robot up and left me!
And it took my dog and wife!
Plus it took my heart right with them,
Now it's gunnin' for my life!
_______
So I bought myself a laser for protection.
I've been hunting for my darling and my hound.
But my robot's managed to evade detection,
And my wife, my heart my doggo can't be found!
__________
Oh my robot up and left me!
And it took my dog and wife!
Plus it took my heart right with them,
Now it's gunnin' for my life!
...
No AI used. Just five minutes and my diseased imagination. I haven't decided whether our hero will find his robot, or whether it'll find him. But I was thinking of ending on a cliffhanger, with the line oh God I hear it climbing up the stairs! After doing some basic Dalek gags in earlier verses and it rhymes nicely cheesily with despair or affairs. The worst thing is even the tune has popped into my head. I'm going to a gig tonight, so hopefully I can drown it out with some proper rock music.
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"Do you still get your house back, your wife back, your dog back (your robot back)?"
You get your virtual girlfriend, your favorite patch in the park and your Amazon account all back. A really upbeat track also means a new free mobe from the government.
I mean, maybe… I can’t see AI being any worst or artistically less meritorious than the work of Stock Aiken and Waterman, or the output of shows like Britains Got Talent.
But I thought I’d see what Chat GPT could come up with (I haven’t checked to see if it’s ripped anyone else off, and I can’t see this ditty replacing Nobby All or The Yogi Song in my pub repertoire)
—————————-
I once met a barmaid in Bristol,
She said "Would you like a quick whistle?"
I said "Only if—" (crowd shouts) "—it’s wet!"
And we all had a drink on that bet!
So drink it down, down, down,
Pass the jug around, around, around,
If the barmaid smiles, you’ll never resist,
Raise your glass and give her a kiss!
I once met a milkmaid in Dover,
She said "Would you like to come over?"
I said "Only if—" (crowd shouts) "—it’s cream!"
And we all had a pint with the team!
So drink it down, down, down,
Pass the jug around, around, around,
If the milkmaid smiles, you’ll never resist,
Raise your glass and give her a kiss!
I once met a sailor in Brighton,
He said "Would you like me to tighten?"
I said "Only if—" (crowd shouts) "—it’s loose!"
And we all had a round of the booze!
So drink it down, down, down,
Pass the jug around, around, around,
If the sailor grins, you’ll never resist,
Raise your glass and give him a kiss!
I once met a baker in York,
She said "Would you like me to knead your fork?"
I said "Only if—" (crowd shouts) "—it’s hot!"
And we all had a drink on the spot!
So drink it down, down, down,
Pass the jug around, around, around,
If the baker winks, you’ll never resist,
Raise your glass and give her a kiss!
I once met a teacher in Leeds,
She said "Would you like to learn my needs?"
I said "Only if—" (crowd shouts) "—it’s rude!"
And we all had a pint with the brood!
So drink it down, down, down,
Pass the jug around, around, around,
If the teacher laughs, you’ll never resist,
Raise your glass and give her a kiss!
I once met a farmer in Kent,
He said "Would you like to pitch my tent?"
I said "Only if—" (crowd shouts) "—it’s big!"
And we all had a jug and a swig!
So drink it down, down, down,
Pass the jug around, around, around,
If the farmer grins, you’ll never resist,
Raise your glass and give him a kiss!
"You can hate my style, you can roll your eyes, But I ain't slowing down, I was born to rise"
It's almost as if it was intended to spit in the face of the anti-AI brigade.
I am in that group but I have to say I was quite impressed. It's not great but nor is most music. Within whole decades I can only recall a few tunes which stood out.
So what when AI music does evoke emotion? I don't know. My gal gone done and left me, and ICE are on my drive. The cops are sure to arrest me, and I won't see the Epstein files.
The push to pitch-correct vocals over the last 10 years or so has helped the move to AI by reducing the emotional impact of the human voice so they all sound similar and hence much easier to replicate. As the record companies are now doing this to old recordings when re-releasing them, and many singers are using live auto-tuning, it wont be that long before the only "authentic" vocals many people get to hear will be those on their old CDs, etc.
Unsurprising really as they are being pressed into service of some mythical, even mystical "AI" to be used for poorest parody of intelligence.
Model autophagy disease. Sounds like an affliction of the anorexic models that sashay down Parisian catwalks.
Personally I would be content if the whole boiling goes completely apoptic but I suspect its fate is necrotic.
For me, Model Autophagy Disease sounds like something out of a Charlie Stross novel. Except there, of course, it would most likely be an actual brain disease caused by listening to too much AI music generated by a model that was trained on Necronomicon and other Cthulhu Mythos things.
Side note: anybody else find rereading the Laundry novels in 2025 to be rather a quaint and cosy experience, with an optimistic worldview compared to the reality?
If you find yourself dissatisfied with Charlie Stross, there's always Christopher Brookmyre, whose fast-paced and often hilarious novels have often that heightened sense of hyper-reality which sci-fi authors attempt to convey - but remember, Philip K. Dick always got there first. Don't forget Peter F. Hamilton, who only has a Scottish name.
Best AI sci-fi novel, IMO: Excession, by Ian M. Banks.
PS Take notes while reading, unless you can work out and remember who is messaging who...
Music has been "eating itself" for centuries, in the sense of mindlessly cranking out tunes based on older material.
See Musical dice games which date back at least a quarter of a millenium and are almost certainly older since the basic idea is pretty obvious to anyone who understands the rules of harmony and composition. It isn't surprising that we can do this on a computer now. Nor is it surprising that some of the generated songs are listenable. Plenty of human-composed stuff isn't, of course, so it goes both ways.
The solution to this 'problem' of non-human generated music is digital signatures...
The same as it is for photographs and images..... The same as it is for spam texts and calls and emails. Let them create the slop and let the market decide how long to finance it. The signature will let me pick AI music that I like or deselect and just listen to humans... Or a blend.
Pki solves all this with curated, trusted entities signing/attesting to the genuine-ness of the source of the material we see/hear. Not perfect, but it provides authentication for trusted sources. All we need is a red/green indicator or a hollow/filled dot for authentication status. Right now, I have no choice, I get a bucket dumped on my head and have to filter with no tools.
The key here, pun intended, is that everything is signed/marked--not just the modified or machine/AI content. This only works if _everything_ is marked.
This idea has been tried before, without success. The problem with such a scheme is that only the purveyors of AI slop, plus the likes of Taylor Swift (indistinguishable from AI slop, to my ears) would be able to afford the “human” certificate, while very few human musicians would be able to afford the “human” certificate. So most content with a “human” signature would be AI, and nearly all human content would end up with an “AI” signature, and will be lost among the flood of AI content that also has the “AI” signature.
The solution? Go to live concerts in tiny venues, and pay the musicians in person. A friend saw U2 in an Irish dive bar when U2 were still hungry and unknown. Or make your own music, like most people used to.
Also mass civil disobedience by archiving any music of value offline onto read-only media. A reminder to me to digitize my vinyl LP collection onto CDs in addition to offline hard drive backups. Why read-only and offline? There was an incident several years ago when Apple Music overwrote people’s local music collections with slop. One musician lost thousands of their own recordings this way.
> Go to live concerts in tiny venues, and pay the musicians
I remember handing over 50 cents to get in. The headliner was a kid Bruce Springsteen. Who?? Wasn't there for him but for the warmup act, Heavy Trucking. Left when they were done, never saw this Bruce.
"There is nothing to stop the slop."
Rubbish. They're called "ears".
As the article points out, we've always had slop - I remember as a kid watching TOTP waiting to see if they put a decent track on (and week after week failing), ditto the Alan Freeman show (followed thankfully by Alexis Korner's blues programme. It's just worse and there's more of it now. There will always be people who just listen to any old thing but there are also always going to be people who listen out for something genuinely new and interesting. AI is by definition unoriginal, and those with any discernment will soon get bored of any AI slop which makes it through the obvious defences.
>It seems like such a good idea. Consolidate the record labels and streaming distributors, grab as much data as you can to train your AIs claiming fair use, ladle out the results, and collect all the money.
It seems such a good idea, until I, the consumer, realize that if I'm going to get slop anyway, I might as well run a local LLM and give you none of the money.
We know that LLMs keep downloading the same web pages time after time (causing the site owners grief).
So it is probably the same LLM "musician" bots continually listening to the same songs, over and over; and this one is attractive to them because it sounds like just the sort of thing they'd "write" themselves.
"An AI-generated band called Breaking Rust has just hit the top of the Billboard Country chart"
Erm, no. It has hit the top of the Billboard Country Digital Downloads chart. Specifically it has been bought 3000 times.[source: Rick Beato's YouTube video about this incident.] So more likely than not someone paid for 3000 downloads to hype it - no different to the people who used to go around the (supposedly secret) record shops in the UK who were used in compiling the weekly charts buying multiple copies of a single. Breaking Rust's absence from any of Billboard's other charts speaks volumes.
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