✘ Innovation in music: on tech and culture
And: How not to write a music strategy; How to use Discord as an artist; AI-generated music and sound-alikes; Funding cycles for artists; What music producers think of AI
We have a strange relationship with innovation in music. On the one hand, we can talk about technological innovations such as the phonautograph or the MP3. On the other, we can talk about increased productivity and output of musicians or the changing sonic palette that they work from. These things are all related, but there’s also a danger that we start talking about ever more abstract categories. Our eternal desire to measure everything means that we break stuff down and try to fit that stuff into models. And yet, some of the most important things to affect innovation cannot be measured: imagination and beliefs.
Imagining a future
Innovation is often correlated with technological advancements or major funding. Yet, it starts somewhere else. When we look at the Industrial Revolution, for example, we see history books that mention some geniuses, like Richard Arkwright - who invented the spinning machine that kickstarted the industrialisation of the textile industry in Britain. Another example is Thomas Edison, who, almost by chance, invented the phonograph, which led to a growth in interest for recorded audio and music. Both of these geniuses, of course, did not work alone, not did they come up with their contraptions overnight. What does bind them, and their teams, together is that they had a clear vision of the future. Arkwright was a staunch self-educator who imagined a machine-powered future. Edison was a classic futurist, who imagined how technologies would improve life for future generations.
Even having a vision doesn’t just happen upon someone. Take Arkwright, he had worked as a wig-maker before he even become interested in machinery for cotton. He most likely saw the increasing demand for cotton and perhaps even analysed that hand-driven spinning wheels would not meet the demand. There was, then, a clear financial picture that he saw in his future. Nonetheless, the vision of a machine-driven economy was the driving force.
Nowadays, we think having a vision is the most normal thing in the world. Every start up needs a vision and a mission for why and how they’ll change the world. Every musicians needs a why for their music. There needs to be a reason for everything to exist in the world and preferably with a notion of how it will make certain things better in the future. We then expect the innovators to stick to their guns, to their beliefs, until they’ve either burnt out or realised them.
Science fiction
So we all know we need that vision of the future to get there. We also all expect everyone, from developers to musicians, to have a vision. It’s because we want to buy into that vision. But how do you find a vision? And does everyone actually need one? I bring in that we can think about science fiction to understand this.
When you read science fiction, or watch it or draw it, you engage in being a forced visionary. We can discuss whether Star Trek is actually an awful vision of the future because none of the tech is realistic, whereas The Expanse is much more realistic. Beyond those discussions, watching both takes us into different worlds in which we can recognize our selves and potential futures. That’s beautiful, and extends into expressions like anime or Afrofuturism. Of course, science fiction also showcases how technology can amplify poor choices. But beyond the dystopic vision of lots of science fiction, there’s also examples that paint optimistic pictures of futures.
In a way, Her, the film, is closely related to Arkwright’s vision of how technology will impact the future. It’s sort of inevitable, offers isolation, but also brings people together. Or perhaps Metropolis is a better example here, since Arkwright’s inventions kickstarted a class division that cannot be described as positive. However, in that film the end shows that the heart brings the hands and the head together. When we dig into science fiction, we see that it helps to shape our imagination. It improves our ability to think outside the box. Without science fiction, it would have been harder to conceive of what robots would sound like. That question, together with the advent of the synthesizer pushed Kraftwerk forward.
But not every musician needs to be Kraftwerk, and even they were not the first to have that vision of a different sounding music. What we learn from science fiction is that there’s no singular vision of the future. It consists of borrowing and adhering. Finding your vision, then, is a system of circumstances and the opportunity to push for its realization.
Cultural drivers
Basically, what I’m arguing for here is a culture where we promote imagination. Innovation in music may seem to start with tech, but first we need optimistic visions. And I’m not just talking about founders, but artists too. We need to inject a sense of optimism that the world of the future will be different than today. Having a vision, and a positive one at that requires people to expand their imaginations. To do that, they need the right systems to thrive in. They need a culture that sustains and reinforces. The need cultural drivers that allow them to explore and they need access to technology to experiment, learn, and create.
LINKS
✒️ How Not To Write A Music Strategy (Shain Shapiro)
“Lately, we have seen music analysis emerge where music is, in essence, a hammer in search of many nails. Here data is collected - always through a survey with little or no on-the-ground analysis - about the economic and social realities of a music scene. A suite of demographic and census-like data is produced. For one, it often paints a discouraging picture of the health of a music ecosystem - true or not, and that the data is only as good as those who filled it out - usually people who have the time and resources to do so. A familiar finding is that musicians are underpaid and under-appreciated. And like all communities, there are systemic issues around race, class, orientation and other differentiators. But stating this without a clear plan - that comes with costs - does not change reality.”
✘ Lots of great input in this one by Shain, but I really want everyone to at least read this first rule. There’s so much data, but why do you want to look at it? And, what’s more, why do you want others to take it in?
❓ How to use Discord as an artist (Declan McGlynn)
“How we speak to each other on the internet is changing. As the chaos and toxicity of social media continue to drive users away, "community" has become the buzzword du jour—representing a shift from top-down, platform-centric, one-to-many communication to horizontal, organic, peer-to-peer relationships. For artists, promoters and labels, social platforms can be a mental and financial drain: countless hours invested in building an audience you don't own, on platforms dictated by an opaque and ever-changing algorithm. That lack of authentic connection has led many users to look elsewhere to develop a safe space with meaningful relationships and interactions. For 140 million monthly users and counting, that elsewhere is Discord.”
✘ This piece is a great resource if you’re thinking about what it takes to take the jump and set up your own Discord. It’s also got some great insights from seasoned Discord runners in how to sustain and navigate a community on the app.
💠 AI-generated music and sound-alikes: Shaping the future of the music industry (Nick Breen, Joshua Love, Bryan Tan, Mikaela Belcher, Hannah Kong)
“The surge of AI-generated sound-alikes presents an array of legal, ethical, and practical challenges. This situation echoes the issues surrounding sync rights and short-form user-generated content platforms. With this new wave of technology, will the music industry persist in an endless cycle of takedown requests, apply pressure on digital service providers with new restrictions in licensing agreements, and push for legal reform, or will it adapt to and find ways to profit from this new wave of creative output?”
✘ As the authors go on to say, one solution is to put matters into the hands of the artists. Give them control and allow them to contend with the tech and participate in how it will operate.
⚖️ Finding Balance Pt.2: Funding Cycles (Sound of Fractures)
“I see it as a funding cycle, each time I can spend on growing exposure, the exposure helps me generate more meaningful connections and more income, and with each funding cycle the reach grows, the audience grows, and the reputation of the project grows. The input comes from me and collectors and with each creative cycle Sound of Fractures accumulates more connections, exposure and funds to reinvest in the project. What is so hard to factor in when trying to describe or visualise this process is the role of emotional connections, and the power that music has to bond to experiences. It almost renders any attempts useless, but not quite as we live and create in a world with financial pressures. I believe we need more simple ideas that encourage progress and have longevity as their focus.”
✘ This is a great way to think about an artists’ career, and it’s not a theoretical one but one grounded in the reality of the author’s life. It shows how Web3 can be locked into a broader network of activity around the creative expression of a musician.
🧰 We asked 1,500 music producers how they use AI in music production (Tomislac Zlatic)
“When it comes to whether or not the developers of AI tools should have access to the copyright of work produced using their software, this opens up the discussion about whether or not they should retain rights over the output of their technology. Clearly, not many believe they should, but it’s a big conversation.”
✘ It’s a solid numbers of respondents and the mixed answers to various questions definitely show that while AI is the talk of every production studio, there’s a long way to go to get all producers to use it and accept it.
MUSIC
This isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you like breakcore, gabber, or you’re generally into the louder or noisier styles of electronic music, you’ll love this by Tank Jr.. Special shoutout to Hyper Real Radio for putting this music in front of me - excellent curation.
another great issue! Thanks for consistently delivering great writing and curation!
Great article