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I have been thinking about the effects of technology on music, these ponderings of course provoked by the annoyingly omnipresent discussions around AI (or as I like to call it, Lake Canada). I stand before you today in defense of music; not that music needs my defense, music’s power is independent of our attitudes towards it. But perhaps as time marches on it can be helpful to be reminded of the power of music, its availability to us and perhaps reassess our relationships with it. Lots of angles and issues regarding AI, creativity, and music. Lots! I’ll try sticking to one lane here. One way of looking at this “new” technology is to see it as just another step in the history of changes in music creation, production, and dissemination. Is it? Who knows, but this can be a helpful way to think about the current situation, as it brings some historical perspective to bear. There have been any number of major technological steps impacting our relationship with music over the centuries: the printing press allowed sheet music to be distributed; the invention and standardized production of many instruments in the 18th and 19th century allowed for large orchestral music productions. Recording devices enter the picture, starting with the phonograph; radio; amplification (microphones, loudspeakers), digital recording and synthesizers and effects processing. Each of these changed the ways we interacted with music. I am going to put a marker here in the timeline. The next big change, of course, involved digital distribution, the internet, streaming. I draw this line because I think there is kind of a before and after here. All of the above changes, above the line, pre-streaming, allowed for the spread of music in a way that involved groups of people, shared experiences. Some allowed for or improved live performances enjoyed by audiences-amplification for example. Some (sheet music, radio) allowed for dissemination of the same music across populations, so as a society we experienced the same “popular” music at any one time. With the dawn of the streaming era, I think we see a turn. To be fair, this turn I think started with some earlier tech, the portable music devices-walkman/discman, mp3 players, and of course the iPhone. Music starts to become more available as an individual experience. Put on headphones and choose your music. Spotify then amplifies this trend: we enter the age of digital curation. You can create your own playlists, sure, and we had been doing this before with cassettes, and often we shared these “mixtapes” with friends. But now the digital overlords offered us the “if you liked that/you will like this”. Personalized. Just for you, tailored to your specific likes and moods. Put on your headphones/earbuds and listen all by yourself. Seems very satisfying and efficient. Now, proponents of AI are evangelizing about hyper-tailored music experiences. As the new tech’s abilities to create “music” advance, it now can “create” songs, soundscapes, etc, that take algorithmic personalization to new extremes. The “perfect” song for you, dear listener, for each moment of your day, with the beats per minute, orchestration, melodic features, percussion, all crafted in the data centers to match preferences you did not even realize you had. We can marvel at these technological advances, sure. But does having your own personal soundtrack in your ears (and only your ears) all day long represent what music has meant to humanity for millennia? Obviously not, and I think it is worth keeping in mind the true power of music, that it is and always has been a shared experience. “Man is a social animal”-One of the annoyingly repeated sayings of my father, when he felt his children were watching too much television or otherwise not engaging in the world to his satisfaction. I now realize he was loosely quoting Aristotle, who argued that humans are uniquely wired to live in groups, not just for survival, but to achieve and enjoy a flourishing life. I think Aristotle (and definitely my Dad) would be suspicious of technology that favored such individually designed musical experiences. So let’s continue to celebrate the real power of music: as a society. Go to the live shows, the school plays, the recitals. Sing at church. Listen to the radio in the car with the windows open and sing along to whatever is playing. Make music with friends. Recommend your current favorites to others. Hear the music of the birds and the trains and the ocean that your neighbors are also hearing. Dance to the music in the streets at the protests and at the celebrations. Let there be songs to fill the air.
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