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A Survival Guide for Musicians in the Age of AI | Harvey Mason jr. | TED

Artificial intelligence can write a song in seconds, but does that mean human songwriters will become obsolete? Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. doesn’t think so. A songwriter himself, he offers a four-step “survival guide” for human creators to endure the age of AI, urging musicians to embrace technology while preserving the emotional essence of…

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Artificial intelligence can write a song in seconds, but does that mean human songwriters will become obsolete? Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. doesn’t think so. A songwriter himself, he offers a four-step “survival guide” for human creators to endure the age of AI, urging musicians to embrace technology while preserving the emotional essence of human artistry. (Recorded at TEDAI San Francisco on October 22, 2024)

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50 Comments

50 Comments

  1. @_rhapsodist

    April 4, 2025 at 7:20 am

    I wonder how he has so much time to spend in the gym..

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    April 4, 2025 at 7:33 am

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  6. @VincentVonDudler

    April 4, 2025 at 7:39 am

    AI is already at parity with human ability in many areas and will only get better. The only way humans can keep up is transhumanism where technology improves humans’ capbilities.

  7. @LuckyDog-v3hPeppergirl

    April 4, 2025 at 7:48 am

    A friend of mine showed me all his AI music and I started listening to the stuff on phones while you’re waiting etcetera anything without a name on it of a band is AI music most likely its terrifying 😮

  8. @laurenf.7922

    April 4, 2025 at 7:53 am

    Yeah… as a musician I am not buying this.

  9. @BebiSharma-o3e

    April 4, 2025 at 7:55 am

    Watch this and do subscribe

  10. @DominionAnako-bb7ry

    April 4, 2025 at 8:08 am

    Awesome

  11. @HardCOR_107

    April 4, 2025 at 8:14 am

    Thank you for putting this together! Plz consider a part 2 on this for young musicians. They need more of the “how”. My 14y.o. son has been playing guitar since he was 7. He just figuring out GarageBand, a Midi, and his Scarlet. He wants to major in music and minor in sound engineering. AI scares him, but not to paralysis or abandonment. As an engineer, I know what AI is and will do to most jobs, but we have to fight anyways. Thanks again!

  12. @mindthreatx

    April 4, 2025 at 8:17 am

    What this guy describes in the beginning of his father adapting is the exact opposite of where he ends up at to block the technology he feels threatened by. It would be like drummers suing and blocking the lmdrum from existing. What a conflicted presentation.

  13. @RISCGAMES

    April 4, 2025 at 8:17 am

    What this guy describes in the beginning of his father adapting is the exact opposite of where he ends up at to block the technology he feels threatened by. It would be like drummers suing and blocking the lmdrum from existing. What a conflicted presentation.

  14. @ClaudeYoung

    April 4, 2025 at 8:22 am

    Ai is going to make human art more valuable. Because the “market” will do what it does and overproduce. And people with who prefer organic will support it’s production in droves. I have been producing vinyl records since the early 90’s. The business is extremely profitable, because of global record collectors. With regards to the use of AI in music, US courts have recently ruled that fully Ai generated music CAN NOT be copyrighted. So I have no idea how they are going to make money with that stuff. But they will try.

  15. @MartialArtUK

    April 4, 2025 at 8:26 am

    Nah AI is going to end arts.

  16. @derwandschauer

    April 4, 2025 at 8:26 am

    Compete? Against a machine that can produce a song in two seconds? That’s like telling a lifter to compete with a bulldozer.

  17. @mariettestabel275

    April 4, 2025 at 8:31 am

    AI DESTROY EVERYTHING.!

  18. @OscarMicMusic

    April 4, 2025 at 8:53 am

    You can’t be an artist and use AI. Write better songs. If AI forces musicians to make better music (and we live in a very art-poor era) then it’s a good thing

  19. @KingSek80

    April 4, 2025 at 9:38 am

    thanks for nothing 🙂

  20. @camilotm

    April 4, 2025 at 10:37 am

    Ok,have fun competing these two or three years at most…🤘

  21. @michelmirmartinez

    April 4, 2025 at 10:58 am

    Short answer: no.

  22. @juliamariemadness

    April 4, 2025 at 2:22 pm

    Its not even a question . The number one ingredient for music is soul.
    Ai will never have that.

    • @AsterCaelus

      April 5, 2025 at 4:00 am

      Explaining what the soul is.

    • @jackchen-kl9wq

      April 5, 2025 at 2:13 pm

      uncertain

    • @PhoenixCharredEagle

      April 6, 2025 at 12:31 am

      Agreed!

    • @buffalobob7721

      April 6, 2025 at 8:33 pm

      And NEVER WILL…..don’t buy into the LIE!!!!

    • @Slaine_OP

      April 7, 2025 at 10:23 am

      Honestly i would normally agree,, but The new music ai model i listened to last night made me feel uncertain, it’s evolved to an almost scary level i could not tell it was made by ai the vocals sounded human.

    • @ВладимирСавельев-б2й

      April 8, 2025 at 7:06 pm

      @@Slaine_OP oh really?

  23. @Kiavashnadershahi

    April 4, 2025 at 5:54 pm

    How could it really change landscape of music production

  24. @MrKoroljov

    April 4, 2025 at 6:26 pm

    3 years later, its worth It to Understand!

  25. @avidliongoren

    April 4, 2025 at 9:07 pm

    Absent from AI adaptation talks like this is the fact that generatibe AI was built on the body of work of artists who never consented or are compensated by the multi billion dollar companies that built the tech.

  26. @hodabahmanof19

    April 5, 2025 at 2:58 am

    So what should we conclude from this talk?
    How “they” ganna protect human creativity ? And who are “They”?

    Who will understand that “this song” is generated by an AI or a creative human?
    THAT IS THE REAL QUESTION !and who cares?

    Already all musicians are using AI to put together and generate a piece of music or a song or an album all together!

    So the final production is a combination of AI with only a touch of human whatever.

    So? By using AI as a tool with whom are we competing again? Please enlighten us

  27. @ImmortalIdeas

    April 5, 2025 at 9:03 am

    Ehh. Im still not impressed.

  28. @DianIsaprianti

    April 5, 2025 at 6:53 pm

    Can u subtitle this?

  29. @ceciliamackie

    April 6, 2025 at 3:24 am

    Your style is really impressive!

  30. @JARMAK-MUSIC

    April 6, 2025 at 6:55 am

    Ai will be an assistant to musicians, not a replacement, same for developers.
    However, I believe that it will replace more systematic professions such as accounting, translation, and possibly lawyers

    • @ВладимирСавельев-б2й

      April 8, 2025 at 7:06 pm

      +

  31. @彭凯斯

    April 6, 2025 at 7:43 am

    Overall, I am pessimistic about the entire music industry in the age of AI.
    This is because AI cannot generate new demand, while supply efficiency continues to improve.—unlike past industrial revolutions (e.g., the invention of steam engines enabled more people to afford clothing, expanding demand). Today, however, content consumption already exists in an era of oversaturation.

    Two potential outcomes may emerge in the future:
    1.Top-tier, creative musicians will thrive, as AI cannot produce original content that does not yet exist.
    2.Ordinary musicians will face fierce internal competition, and the winners will be those who use AI effectively.

  32. @unhakim7415

    April 6, 2025 at 8:47 am

    I am not sure creativy of human wil be evaluated enough in the market in capitalism.

  33. @buffalobob7721

    April 6, 2025 at 8:33 pm

    Merge with AI or work on AI. AI is not creative in the sense they want you to believe….Utilizing all known data and creating a creation from compiled data which has already been created. Circular reasoning in itself!!!! AI AIN’T GOT NO SOUL…..Personally going to UNPLUG and worship the almighty and original creator-JESUS CHRIST!!!! AMEN AND AMEN

  34. @gregorymiller2977

    April 7, 2025 at 4:08 am

    25,000 members currently in NARAS? Wow, when I became a member there were only 8,000. That was in 1995.

  35. @binhngo7247

    April 7, 2025 at 11:13 am

    Not only music

  36. @IamS.S.I

    April 8, 2025 at 1:08 am

    👍👍

  37. @akonshinaya232

    April 8, 2025 at 4:43 am

    He is a truly wise person. We should learn to use AI to help ourselves instead of rejecting it❤

  38. @ВладимирСавельев-б2й

    April 8, 2025 at 7:06 pm

    I Agree !

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