From artificial artists to algorithmic creativity, the industry is wrestling with its biggest disruption since streaming.
Artificial intelligence is no longer knocking on the music industry’s door. It’s already inside the studio, the boardroom, and the streaming platform’s recommendation engine. From fully synthetic artists charting on Billboard to AI tools that can write, remix, and distribute songs in minutes, the technology is forcing a once-in-a-generation rethink of how music is made, valued, and protected.
That tension sits at the heart of the latest episode of Bloomberg Tech: Europe, where host Tom Mackenzie explores whether AI represents an existential threat to musicians or the start of a creative renaissance. At the centre of the conversation is will.i.am, the Grammy-winning artist and founder of AI startup FYI.AI, who argues that panic misses the bigger picture.
“This is not doom and gloom,” will.i.am says. “It’s a renaissance.”
When AI Becomes the Artist
From novelty experiments to chart-topping tracks
The idea of machines making music once sounded like a gimmick. That illusion has shattered. Xania Monet, an AI-generated artist, recently became the first of its kind to chart on the US Billboard rankings. According to French streaming service Giza, most listeners cannot reliably distinguish AI-generated songs from human-made tracks.
Behind that shift is a fast-growing ecosystem of generative music platforms. Companies such as Suno, Udio, Loudly, and Musico allow users to create fully produced songs without instruments, vocalists, or studio time. The global AI music market, valued at roughly $440 million in 2023, is projected to approach $2.8 billion by 2030.
The scale is exhilarating, and unsettling. Critics warn that platforms could be flooded with synthetic tracks, drowning out human creators while enabling voice imitation without consent. The fear is not just artistic dilution, but economic erosion.
Copyright, Consent and Control
Why artists are pushing back
That concern has already sparked resistance. In the UK, proposed changes to copyright law that would make it easier for AI companies to train models on copyrighted data triggered a high-profile protest earlier this year. Artists including Damon Albarn and Annie Lennox released a “silent album” to underline what they see as an existential risk to creative ownership.
Will.i.am acknowledges their frustration. “Artists have every right to protest,” he says, drawing parallels with music licensing in advertising and political campaigns. Consent, he argues, is non-negotiable.
At the same time, he challenges a core assumption driving the backlash. Future AI systems, he suggests, may not need to train on existing music at all. As models become more sophisticated, theory rather than data could be enough. “Songs can be broken down into predictions,” he explains. “The model doesn’t have to learn from the past to create.”
That idea cuts against much of the current legal debate, but it doesn’t resolve the immediate problem of compensation.
Streaming’s Fragile Economics Meet AI at Scale
A business model under pressure
Even before generative AI, streaming was a sore point for musicians. Licensing deals, as will.i.am points out, often undervalue the time and labour behind recordings. “A song’s worth how much a stream?” he asks. “Let’s hope the people divvying up that value actually love and appreciate it.”
Jessica Powell, co-founder and CEO of AudioShake, sees the real danger not in AI-assisted creativity, but in mass-produced, fully synthetic music overwhelming platforms.
“The biggest challenge is how 100 percent AI-generated tracks are treated on streaming services,” she says. “That poses a potential threat to artists.”
Powell also highlights a growing problem of streaming fraud, where AI-generated tracks are uploaded at scale and artificially boosted by bots to siphon revenue. Generative AI, she argues, doesn’t create new problems so much as amplify existing ones.
Labels Adapt, Regulators Lag
Deals, disclosure, and distrust
Major labels are not standing still. Warner Music Group has partnered with AI companies like Suno, while Universal Music Group and Sony Music have struck or settled deals that allow AI-powered remixes of popular songs. Universal has also announced a partnership with Nvidia, positioning AI as a discovery tool rather than a replacement for artists.
For Helienne Lindvall, president of the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, licensing is only the starting point. “Without licensing, there is no money flowing back to creators,” she says. “But transparency is just as important.”
Lindvall criticises both labels and AI firms for opaque agreements that leave songwriters unsure how their work is being used or monetised. She is particularly sceptical of Europe’s AI Act, calling it “toothless” on copyright and too vague to offer meaningful protection.
The result is an uneven playing field where innovation races ahead of governance.
Organic Music in a Synthetic Age
Will audiences pay for the human touch?
One of will.i.am’s most striking predictions is not about technology, but labeling. Just as food is now marked organic or processed, he believes music will eventually be tagged as human-made or AI-generated.
“There will be AI Bruce Springsteen. There will be AI Adele,” he says. “It’s going to sound great.” But live performance, he argues, remains irreplaceable. AI does not live, and it cannot replicate human presence.
That distinction may create a premium around lived experience, from concerts to sports, as audiences seek authenticity in an increasingly synthetic media environment.
A Renaissance, Not a Reckoning
What comes next for music
Despite the anxiety swirling around AI, one message cuts through the noise: human creativity is not disappearing. It is being challenged, reshaped, and, in some cases, forced to defend its value more clearly than before.
The real battle is not between musicians and machines, but over governance, transparency, and fair economics. Whether AI becomes a collaborator or a competitor will depend less on what the technology can do, and more on the rules society chooses to set.
As will.i.am puts it, “Stop chasing the algorithm. People want the heart.”
