If you hate AI in music.
Or if you prefer your art made by actual humans with hands and hearts.
This is the week to hide under the covers.
Spotify and Universal Music Group signed a deal Thursday. They are partnering on a new feature that lets listeners create AI-generated cover songs and remixes right inside the app.
Imagine At Last by Etta James.
Now mash it up with Justin Bieber’s 2010 bop Baby.
Turn it into folk music.
Or country.
That’s what this tool promises to do.
You Will Have To Pay For It
Don’t worry. It isn’t coming for everyone’s subscription tomorrow. Or today.
It will be a paid add-on for Spotify Premium members. The price? Undecided. The launch date? Also unknown. Spotify said they are building this on consent and credit. Alex Norström, co-CE0, insists there will be compensation for artists and songwriters involved. Lucian Grainge from UMG added it is about supporting human artistry. Deepening fan relationships. Making more money for the creators.
Sound nice?
Maybe.
But consider the alternative view.
Billie Eilish has spoken against this tech.
Billy Corgan did too.
So did Jon Bon Jovi.
The fear isn’t new.
The intersection of code and chorus scares a lot of people in this business.
“What we’re building is grounded in credit… for the artists that take part.”
Fair enough.
But who decides if their song gets mashed up with Bieber?
It is unclear.
Artists who own their masters—like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé—might have veto power. Others? Maybe not so much.
Does that bother you?
Or do you just want the country version of At Last?
No one knows yet when you can actually make it. Or how much it will cost to blur the line between fan edit and actual cover.
We just wait.
And listen.
And wonder what the algorithm will cook up next.
