Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine believes the music industry is suffering from artists who rather be famous than actually be great at their craft.
During his interview with Consequence of Sound for the publication's Conseqeunce UNCUT podcast, which was published on Monday, the 70-year-old former music executive reflected on his thoughts about the current state of the music industry and how artificial intelligence has affected songwriting and production. The use of AI has become a hot topic in various industries and raises issues of authenticity and more.
“I’m not saying it’s good or bad, but I think AI is going to be massive in songwriting on many levels,” Iovine said at around the 19:50 mark. “One, on a very basic level, if somebody is stuck and you want to experiment and get an idea. Two is that not everyone, but too many people today are making records for TikTok.”
He continued, “They used to make records for radio, but now it’s TikTok. That’s why all these pop records sound exactly the same. So if you’re making records like that, making records off this formula, then you’re going to start seeing big hits being written and recorded on AI.”
Iovine made sure to clarify he wasn’t speaking about “big” hits, not “great” ones. According to Iovine, streaming, AI, and social media have made people chase fame rather than find greatness in their work.
"What happened in music is fame has replaced great," he adds. "It's happened in society basically. Fame has replaced great."
“Artists are making so much money in so many different places, which is fantastic, but after they have a hit record, they can earn a lot of money on Instagram and all this stuff. I feel that a lot of people, a lot of artists, not all, but a lot of artists are taking their foot off the gas in the record-making category. And that’s affecting the quality of the work. And I think you’re seeing that in a lot of different genres right now.”
Despite the issues that AI poses, the modern form of technology has provided people with some some comedy on social media. Recently, AI-generated images of Steve Harvey in dire situations such as running from monsters have been sweeping the internet.
