20 Take-aways from The Silent Takeover Ted Gioia on AI's Threat To Music
Loosely accompanies Gab & Jam,
333. 20 Take-aways from The Silent Takeover Ted Gioia on AI's Threat To Music
(video: https://bit.ly/333aigioiavid and podcast: https://bit.ly/333aigioiapod )
We’d never heard of this guy, but he had such a profound take on SO many topics that are important to us. We couldn’t help it, so we started taking notes on the ideas he expressed in his Rick Beato interview.
Check out the episode for the full discussion.
This episode is a slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am take on The Silent Takeover: Ted Gioia on AI's Threat To Music (on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel): https://youtu.be/ibMd_Jx9daw?si=sK_dcdgXoDMykIDE rce=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_smartloop&utm_content=smartloop&utm_term=71940051
We loved Ted Gioia’s topics like:
1. AI and how it affects works of art:
What he means is that this allows streaming services like Spotify to use AI to keep ALL of the profits from streaming, because there is no artist royalty given. That sucks because, although your work may be referenced to create this new work, you are not given ANY credit—Nor any royalty—for the work that has been added as a part of this new work. –This was something we knew, but it begs the question if that’s an okay way to produce new art….
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2. Artists against big platforms (like TikTok or Spotify):
The example Gioia gives is that Universal Music had to go back to TikTok and share their artists music there and Joni Mitchell went back to Spotify to offer their music there, so that they would all reach a wider, international audience. He says the big companies will win in the end, because they reach so many people.
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3. Talks about Johan Rohr:
Gioia offers an interesting story about a guy with 656 aliases and has more streams than Michael Jackson? Gioia says its banal music, though, and that it is not good for artists nor listeners. Instead, he says that companies are maximizing profits, but is not good that listeners don’t know the name of the artists or songs that they listen to. He says that folks who run these companies don’t care about the music or the listeners.
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4. Talks about his prediction nearly 20 years ago that streaming models don’t work:
He says that he knew 20 years ago that Netflix and Spotify can’t make what they need by allowing folks to stream endless amount of music, because they still have to pay royalties to endless amounts of artists for endless amounts of music–after only charging customers $10 a month. He says that he KNEW they would have a deficit, but it has taken 20 years for that threshold to hit.
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5. Being cool is a cycle (that lasts 50 years):
He says folks in the depression didn’t care to be cool; began to be used as a marketing strategy; it lasts one generation, which means you will only live through it once in your life—for instance, maximalist music where unexpected things happen include Sondheim and Bacharach, but he feels it will come back again; companies are pushing formulas to the extreme until the public rejects it (like superhero movies)—you have to take risks to keep the audience engaged and big companies don’t like taking risks).
6. Songwriters listed as a type of stock options (but with no real concern for creating art):
Well, if we were A&R folks—who NEEDED to pay our bills based on the talent we brought—that we would LIKELY bring more of what is ALREADY liked, so that we could continue our payday. –In other words, we might pick what other people might like over what we TRULY vibed with. –Again, it’s easier to sell things to folks who already have expressed what they want than to try something untested. –Ted Goiaia says that major labels choosing to spend time pushing old music is a cash cow—because they ALREADY know that folks want it—versus trying to get folks to see a new artists’ potential.
7. Artistic companies are run by accountants and lawyers:
He says that this is not healthy for the future of music. He says that they are spending more time pushing old music, because it is more profitable, but to the detriment of creating new music and developing new artists. In other words, he says that instead of putting in the work, the record companies will not sign a new artist that isn’t ALREADY popular and are giving away more of their leverage, because the artist is going to expect more money and power up front. –Though record companies are looking to come out “ahead,” this mindset is leaving them behind in the grand scheme of things.
8. Battle of the micro versus the macro culture:
He says that the small operators versus large companies are the BIG battle of the day. That the edgier, more free versus rules and conservatism are battling for the audiences’ attention. -For example, the total ad revenue on YouTube is now higher than Netflix. Small companies are vibrant and attract folks because of the passion people feel from it. People like the unpredictability of this erratic thing.
9. There is a crisis of trust:
Here’s the deal; people don’t trust universities, politicians, media, etc. Instead, the micro culture have to be honest with the reader, because people want to believe in something, so if you give something for people to believe in, you are likely to recruit TRUE fans.
Takeaway: We can’t reduce things to a formula–which is really ANTI-algorithm–ANTI-AI.
Second Takeaway: Keep taking risks and following your passion; this is the way to beat AI.
10. What is the difference between art and entertainment?
Entertainment gives the audience exactly what it wants, whereas the artist goes where they want to. They will make demands on its audience and the audience can choose to follow or not, but the artist will continue into its own trajectory anyway.
11. AI is backward-looking:
Algorithms are always backward looking, but people need something new that they haven’t seen before. The choice of what to value is already made for you in the algorithm. The audience becomes the couch potato, where things come at you and you are passive. The algorithm can NEVER predict what’s next and THAT’S where the magic is. –Clive Davis was never aligned to an algorithm; he always had a feeling about what was coming next. AI can’t really predict what’s coming next.
12. AI can’t provide a live experience:
AI can’t win, because the MOST exciting and lucrative musical event of the year is the Taylor Swift Eras Tour, where fans fly into different countries to see her. The average fan spends $1,300, but of course MANY fans have spent MUCH more. According to CBS News, the Taylor Swift tour alone changes the local economies of cities worldwide. That is amazing and it’s NOT AI.
13. Using AI to microwave a career is not sustainable:
He says that you can’t get to Taylor Swift’s level if you’re not willing to slog it out over the long haul. —MANY artists want that microwaved career, which won’t get you to what Taylor Swift has. You HAVE to be willing to put in the long, arduous effort if you want to attain her kind of results.
14. Always checking out what’s new:
Ted Gioia says he listens to about 20 albums a week from ALL kinds of artists in all kinds of genres. He publishes a list of 100 albums that folks should listen to once a year. He says this is the input that he needs to write.
15. What advantages do older people have?
More seasoned, these advisors to the culture offer words of encouragement or criticism, based on our age and wisdom. We are more prepared for opportunities; we needed time to mull things over and are always developing a point of view.
16. Prognostication much?
He has a theory that this time period parallels the 1800s. He is working on learning more about the Romantic period, so that he can substantiate his theory.
17. Aha moment:
He says that, in essence, that true progress is human beings flourishing, not AI taking over the human role. Humans pushing the limits and going into uncharted territory is going to bring more people to you than trying to farm yourself out as an AI reincarnation.
18. The Internet is a blessing and a curse:
He says that the internet destroyed creative institutions (like newspapers and record companies), but allows creative people to connect directly to their audience in a way like we have never had.
19. His college and career advice:
Look around for the opportunities that call for your skills and interests and not the other way around. Follow your passion and look around for places where your skills can be useful. Listen to your heart, you will not be led astray. He says that sometimes life will take you in a roundabout way to get you all the skills and experiences that you need to live the life you REALLY want.
20. Stray outside of your comfort zone:
When you have decisions to make, make some choices that bring you outside of your comfort zone. The circuitous path helps get you to the unique position for you. —Talented people have different passions that take them in unusual directions. If you take only the comfortable, predictable path, you won’t develop your unique selling proposition.
The BIG point?
These are the take-aways from this profoundly thoughtful interview. We hope that SOME of this resonates with you all, our fellow D.I.Y. Rock Stars. Which idea resonates MOST with you?
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What do you think?
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