Comment by adamors

Comment by adamors 3 days ago

I don't agree, endless music from faceless artists have made everything weightless and interchangeable, the never ending stream of recommended artists means that clicking next is more exciting than actually listening to something.

I remember 15-20 years ago, every album (even digital album) meant something, I remember trading CDs and MP3s with friends and listening to an album (or even a song) over and over again. Now we're spoiled for choice and very, very few artists produce something that will be remembered in 10 years, let alone 5.

crazygringo 3 days ago

I feel like you're describing some strange alternate universe. I genuinely don't understand what you're talking about.

Faceless artists? Artists have dedicated followings with fanbases where they interact more than ever before. Weightless and interchangeable? Artist's personalities are more distinct and individual than ever.

You think people don't listen to albums anymore? That they're "clicking next" rather than listening? Do you actually know anybody who likes music? I think you might not actually be in touch with today's music scene.

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autoexec 3 days ago

> Faceless artists? Artists have dedicated followings with fanbases where they interact more than ever before.
Not so much these days. Especially on streaming platforms where countless tracks that get pushed on listeners are recorded by anonymous session musicians whose works are sometimes put out under an assigned name for that singe track, then they get assigned a new name for the next track they put out. Even worse, a lot of music on Spotify and Apple Music are 100% AI generated tracks. Literally faceless.
> You think people don't listen to albums anymore? That they're "clicking next" rather than listening?
Many aren't even "clicking next". They're just taking whatever comes next over their speakers and letting their streaming platform decide for them what they're hearing.

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- crazygringo 3 days ago
  
  Of course faceless artists exist if that's what you're actively seeking. And sure some people are putting on AI-generated tracks in the background while they study or whatever.
  But that's not representative. Regular people who like regular real-life artists continue to listen to them, the same as they always have.
  And I don't know anybody who outsources their music tastes entirely to e.g. Spotify. Like, you have to actually pick a playlist or something. You have to make some choice. And like I said, people have been "just taking whatever comes next over their speakers" by listening to the radio for many, many decades.
  You're commenting as if something has changed for the worse in the past 15-20 years. It hasn't. It's only gotten better in terms of real music. And if you don't like the AI slop, don't listen to it.
  
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  autoexec 2 days ago
  
  > Of course faceless artists exist if that's what you're actively seeking.
  AI generated music is shoved at listeners without them ever knowing about it. Spotify has even misrepresented AI songs as real (https://holrmagazine.com/spotify-publishes-ai‑generated-song...) and has been quietly stuffing them into playlists. (https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machin...) so even people who did actively pick a particular artist or a particular playlist ended up unknowingly listening to AI slop.
  > And like I said, people have been "just taking whatever comes next over their speakers" by listening to the radio for many, many decades.
  Radio never had a daily/hourly limit on how many times you could change the station. Radio wasn't filled with AI generated music either. Every song you heard on radio was performed by an actual human. If you liked what you heard you could see the bands in concert. Even acts like milli vanilli were better than scams like The Velvet Sundown (https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/tim-boucher-velvet-sun...)
  Certainly people continue to exist who like listening to music made by real bands, but increasingly people are listening to AI generated music that is anything but distinct and individual.
  The music landscape and the way music is experienced is vastly different from how it was back in the days of radio and CDs and yeah, I suspect that much of this change is for the worse.
  Everything good in the AI generated music getting millions of streams came from humans whose talent and creativity were used in training the AI. If real artists increasingly have trouble getting discovered and building fans because their efforts are lost in a growing sea of AI slop that will be bad for artists and there will be less good music being made for AI to take and regurgitate back at listeners. AI will increasingly have to feed off of it's own slop and its hard to imagine that being ideal for music lovers either.
  
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  crazygringo 2 days ago
  
  > I suspect that much of this change is for the worse.
  I think you're just not aware of so many things that have changed for the better. So much better.
  I just can't get worked up about AI slop music. It's not taking over. It's the easiest thing in the world to avoid.
  Today, new artists can get started in SoundCloud and YouTube without label gatekeepers. They're not constrained by top 40 tastes. They can communicate directly with fans. They get discovered on people's curated playlists as well as custom "radio" stations.
  Music is in a better place than it's ever been before. I'm sorry you seem to only focus on small negatives, without seeing the massive positive shifts.
  I get the feeling you're not actually into music yourself, and you're just talking about news reports you've read. Because if you were really engaging with artists today, I don't understand how you could be writing the things you are.
  
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lxgr 3 days ago

The other thing that has happened over the past 15-20 years is that you've aged as much, though.

I remember being very excited about my favorite band releasing a new record when I was a teenager. Not that I don't enjoy that today at all, but I feel like the difference can be explained by my having heard dozens of more great albums since then much better than by the shift from physical to virtual media.

Looking at today's teenagers, I am not concerned about them not appreciating individual songs and artists enough. (If anything, I'd argue the opposite!)

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squigz 3 days ago

> very, very few artists produce something that will be remembered in 10 years, let alone 5.

So... like most artists of any type since forever?

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