Artificial intelligence climbs the charts: country from vintage genre to pop genre
A song Walk My Walk made with Ai by Breaking Rust has received exorbitant numbers on all streaming platforms. But is it worth listening to?
Analysing the credits of the track Walk My Walk by Breaking Rust on Spotify, we discover that the composer and lyricist is one Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor. This songwriter was already known under the pseudonym Defbeatsai for releasing tracks with decidedly more explicit titles, with a more adult target audience, so to speak. The band's profile, although verified, does not feature a biography of any kind, but only a black and white photo, obviously generated by the AI, depicting a cowboy with a hat and unkempt beard. This detail suggests little effort in curating the band's image or providing accurate information.
Is it a hit parade song?
The song 'Walk My Walk' on first superficial listening does not sound like an AI-generated track. It is a very melancholic and rather stereotypical track for the country genre, with a structure that alternates major and minor chords and develops into verses and refrains. The rhythm section tends more towards pop than country, given the absence of an instrumental ensemble typical of the genre. However, listening to the song several times or using headphones, one notices some particular details: in the held notes, the voice sounds much more like a looped sound than a human voice, and this effect is particularly noticeable in the final part, when the voice, on the word 'my', plays a long note that seems to simulate a vibrato, but which to the ear is a simple repetition of the same note with identical attack and the same decay of sound.
The other songs on the charts
It is quite obvious what the inspiration for the song was. In recent years, pop has incorporated many country sounds, as seen in the songs of artists such as Rag'n'Bone Man. It is not surprising, therefore, that among the songs recommended by YouTube itself appears Teddy Swims, another artist with a production with clear country overtones. The fact that the song has reached such a high position is not surprising: the formula is to take cues from artists in vogue, and have them generate lyrics and a musical base very similar to those of super-listened artists. In the same vein are other tracks that have been on playlists and international charts for months. A similar story is that of the AI band called Velvet Sundown, which climbed the Spotify charts, even ending up on the 'Classic Rock Anthems 60s and 70s' playlist and being counted among the classics of rock music. Another AI-generated band is The Roux, which produces purely pop-blues music and is enjoying some success.
Unfair competition or future ally?
What is worrying above all is the speed with which these bands achieve success: they go from being unknown to having more than a million plays in the space of a week. Clearly, this is not solely the result of word of mouth or spontaneous link sharing, but rather a massive shift of capital invested in the promotion of the song, rather than its production. If you can save money on creation, you can invest it all in advertising. We are thus faced with yet another case of imitation for easy money. There are still few artists who use AI as a tool and not as an end goal. We still wait, anxiously and confidently, for some leading figure in music today to make innovative use of it, hoping that it will pave the way and set a good example in this field.
