Today, Explained – "AI music is here"
Vox | Aired January 9, 2026
Host: Noel King | Guests: Ian Kreitzberg (Puck, Hidden Layer newsletter), Denis Bouchard (Scientific American)
Overview: The Arrival and Challenges of AI Music
This episode dives deep into the explosion of AI-generated music — from its rapid proliferation on streaming platforms, the difficulty in distinguishing it from traditional music, to its implications for listeners, artists, and the industry at large. Hosts and guests tackle big questions: Does AI music have heart and soul? Should music lovers take AI music seriously? And how are record labels adapting (or clashing) with the AI wave?
1. AI Music’s Sudden Ubiquity
Timestamps: 00:14 – 04:37
- Noel King introduces the massive scale:
- "Deezer says 50,000 AI generated tracks are being uploaded every day. Spotify is declining to comment. LOL." (00:16)
- AI music is now competing on the charts: "AI music is also charting, Breaking Rust's Walk My Walk top Spotify's viral 50 songs in the US. Zanaya Monet debuted on the Billboard charts." (00:21)
- The Velvet Sundown case study:
- Ian Kreitzberg reminds listeners that this wasn’t a classic band: "They're a band... They're an AI Music project is perhaps more accurate. They got popular... doing an iteration of sort of 1970s inspired classic rock..." (02:20–02:40)
- Suspicion grew due to the unnatural pace of releases — "three or four records out... in a couple weeks". (03:16)
Notable quote:
"You can kind of dupe people into listening to fully AI generated music. And it's not immediately apparent that this was not produced by people."
—Ian Kreitzberg (03:56)
2. Listener Attitudes toward AI Music
Timestamps: 04:37 – 06:19
- “Music nerds” are disturbed by the lack of “heart and soul” in AI music; but casual listeners are harder to sway:
- "A lot of people just don’t care. In the earlier days… it didn’t sound good... when you surpass that point... people don’t care.” —Ian Kreitzberg (05:16)
- However, disclosure matters: labeling something as AI-generated makes people like it less.
Notable exchange:
Noel King: “So what? So they avoid it? They don't click on it? What do they do?”
Ian Kreitzberg: "They've done studies... if you label an image as being AI generated, people tend not to like it as much as they like an image that is labeled as being created by a person." (05:57–06:06)
3. AI Music Technology & Industry Shakeups
Timestamps: 06:19 – 12:18
- Main platforms: SUNO & Udio, both allowing anyone to generate music via text prompts. (06:40)
- Example: "I want a stirring early morning gospel song..." and AI delivers instantly. (06:53–07:10)
- The music industry’s initial reaction: Lawsuits.
- RIAA sued leading AI music companies over "inputs" (copyrighted data scraped for training) and "outputs" (AI-produced tracks too similar to existing works). (07:43–08:07)
- Then, a pragmatic turn: partnerships.
- Lawsuits against AI music firms were settled. Now, major labels have deals with AI tech: "Universal partnered with Udio and Warner partnered with Suno and Universal announced a partnership with Nvidia..." (08:55–09:28)
Notable quote:
"These labels don’t want to piss off their major artists because that's their current business model. And making sure you have the fandom of Taylor Swift is important to not, you know, push away."
—Ian Kreitzberg (11:21)
- The hedge: Labels aim to cover themselves whether AI becomes dominant or just another niche.
- Key idea: Allowing fans to remix or customize songs via AI without alienating human artists or their existing audience. (11:48–12:18)
4. First-Person Experiment: Living with AI Music
Denis Bouchard’s Month-Long Journey
Timestamps: 16:45 – 26:48
- Denis Bouchard, Scientific American reporter, listens to only AI-generated music he made himself for a month.
- The emotional gap: When recreating classics (like "For What It’s Worth"), the sound is convincing but the "story" and authentic connection are missing.
- "If I had heard that song in a coffee shop or a restaurant, I wouldn't have known it was AI... But... there was just no story for me. There was no attachment to that song." (18:50)
- The evolution: At first, cognitive dissonance is strong, but over time Bouchard becomes more comfortable, even playful and curious with AI prompts:
- "What has surprised me with it is now I'll be walking somewhere and I'll think, what if I were to ask it to combine these styles..." (24:27)
- AI’s uncanny authenticity:
- "A lot of the AI music that is popular... — it often is creating songs that are very soulful, very gritty... Those songs all feel just really authentic." (22:15, 23:14)
- The illusion is so good it’s almost undetectable:
“Do you think if someone had handed you a playlist... five are AI, five are not, do you think you'd be able to tell the difference?”
Denis Bouchard: "No, I don't think so." (22:11)
Notable moment:
"This machine did not fall in love. This machine did not suffer these experiences... It was actually really bothering me... I just would have cognitive dissonance..."
—Denis Bouchard (24:55)
- Looking ahead: Bouchard predicts young generations will adapt seamlessly.
- "In 10 or 15 or 20 years, there are going to be a lot of teenagers who look at the discussions we're having right now and go, what are these people talking about? Like, this is totally normal. Why would anybody feel so conflicted about this?" (25:55)
5. Key Quotes and Memorable Moments
- “Dreams pass before my eyes / A curiosity dust in the know.” —Charlie Kirk, referencing AI-composed faux-classic rock (03:17)
- "They sued... The RIAA announced that major record labels... are suing two of the leading AI music companies, alleging massive copyright infringement..." —Ian Kreitzberg (07:56)
- "Now I'm at the point where I don't worry about the connection to the human. Like I did in the beginning." —Denis Bouchard (24:27)
- “I really hope that artists are as protected as possible and remunerated properly. But I think this is going to fit into our lives a lot more smoothly than I think we're realizing.” —Denis Bouchard (26:25)
6. Takeaways – The Future of AI Music
- AI-generated music is indistinguishable (to most) from human music, especially in casual listening settings.
- Mainstream listeners may not care about the origins unless they’re told — but labels do, and so do devoted music lovers.
- Lawsuits gave way to industry-wide partnerships — a hedge against disruption, not a war.
- Record labels see potential in customizable or remixable fan experiences, but integrating AI while keeping artists happy will be a delicate balance.
- For individuals, AI music’s lack of personal narrative or artist backstory remains a hurdle — but, like Bouchard, many may adapt or even embrace it.
- The shift is generational: what is eerie and novel now could soon just be “normal.”