"And this is Galaxy Brain, a show where today we're going to talk about music-making it, the future of it, and the ways that technology has complicated that future quite a bit. Throughout the last decade I've been fortunate enough to meet and interview a bunch of musicians across a bunch of genres and levels of fame. And inevitably, the conversation always shifts toward streaming. You're probably familiar with the basic gripes: Streaming has atomized a musician's catalog, prioritizing tracks over albums."
"On this week's Galaxy Brain, host Charlie Warzel dives into the state of the music industry, where streaming economics, algorithmic discovery, and generative AI are reshaping how music is distributed, as well as what it means to make music in this environment. The episode traces how playlists and opaque recommendation systems have left many artists feeling like they're battling an algorithm."
Streaming economics and opaque recommendation systems have atomized catalogs, prioritized tracks over albums, and left many artists competing with algorithms for discovery. Generative AI and automation are producing AI-generated songs, impersonations, and synthetic "diet music" that flood platforms and can chart, intensifying pressures on a model that pays poorly. Low payouts and creative burnout strain the system. The band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard embraced bootleg culture and removed its catalog from Spotify to preserve creative control. These developments raise questions about whether music is becoming a pure commodity under technological transformation.
Read at The Atlantic
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