AI Slop is taking over Spotify(symmetrybreak.ing)
symmetrybreak.ing
AI Slop is taking over Spotify
https://symmetrybreak.ing/blog/spotify-slop/
63 comments
The AI songs do suck, but what's even worse is that I can't block artists on Spotify or YouTube. My only recourse was to down vote each song individually, which didn't prevent the songs from showing up, just "Showed my preference".
I don't know what service is safe, but it seems like the incentives for the companies is not to direct me to what I want, real people performing music.
I don't know what service is safe, but it seems like the incentives for the companies is not to direct me to what I want, real people performing music.
In Spotify, the artist page should have a “don’t play this artist” option under the 3-dot menu.
I had no idea how bad it had gotten, since none of it was being shown to me. Then a friend sent me his AI music on Spotify, I listened, and my recommendations were all AI for my usual genres suddenly. It's like they have a flag for your account that says "we can save money, this guy will listen to the cheap stuff".
Self host + jellyfin is an easy response. I haven't seen an ad or paid to stream my music in 15 years.
Vote with your wallet.
Vote with your wallet.
I've for Plex + PlexAmp for music , does jellyfin have a good mobile app for audio?
Plex doesn't run without an account, isn't remotely accessible from a firewall isolated server, and requires a license :(
Finamp and jellyfin, the PWA is also solid.
Finamp and jellyfin, the PWA is also solid.
The same thing is happening on YouTube, my recs are stuffed full of obviously AI generated music compilations lately. It's obvious from the volume those channels are posting (often ~3 hours of "new" music every single day) that little to no curation is happening, it's just elemental slop straight from the firehose.
Agreed, on YouTube the AI slop music has been trending even more. I hadn't experienced it on Spotify however and only last month they had stated that AI music would be tagged as such.
My personal consumption of YT has dropped pretty sharply - I only go on there for specific content that I personally pick out myself. The recommendations have become really bad progressively IME over the past 2 years.
I think they've tiktokified everything, hoping to catch you with some bait. Including the search results page, you get maybe 5 relevant videos and then the viral stuff.
I say "I think" because I've also ended up activating the content filter in my brain and stopping myself from looking further when I notice "Oh this part of the site has viral infection". Perhaps it's better with history enabled?
I say "I think" because I've also ended up activating the content filter in my brain and stopping myself from looking further when I notice "Oh this part of the site has viral infection". Perhaps it's better with history enabled?
I've had so many AI-created movie trailers on youtube lately it is so annoying. Just yesterday I searched for an upcoming movie "The Chronology of Water" trailer and get this fake ai trailer which I watched unknowingly thinking "wow this trailer sucks" just to later find the disclaimer "Please note that this video is a concept trailer created solely for artistic and entertainment purposes. I have meticulously incorporated various effects, sound design, AI technologies, film analytics, and other elements to bring my vision to life."
Most people love making AI music by throwing a 5-word prompt at Suno and being in awe at "their" creation.
However, it is also a fact that the vast majority of people can't care less to listen to their friends' and family's Sunos, as they were not involved in the process and therefore can't vibe to the random soul-less soup.
Please keep your slop for yourself.
However, it is also a fact that the vast majority of people can't care less to listen to their friends' and family's Sunos, as they were not involved in the process and therefore can't vibe to the random soul-less soup.
Please keep your slop for yourself.
To be honest I’ve been having the opposite experience. There are lots of cool niche playlists on YouTube that cater to specific ideas.
Like “40’s gangster jazz”, or “studying in the Hogwarts library”, etc
It’s the majority of what I listen to lately and it’s been pretty good.
On a related note, I was working with someone recently and he put on a jazz playlist he found on YouTube. We both enjoyed the music and neither of us realized it was AI until about halfway through the playlist.
I don’t think it’s a big deal that it’s AI, as long as you enjoy the music.
Like “40’s gangster jazz”, or “studying in the Hogwarts library”, etc
It’s the majority of what I listen to lately and it’s been pretty good.
On a related note, I was working with someone recently and he put on a jazz playlist he found on YouTube. We both enjoyed the music and neither of us realized it was AI until about halfway through the playlist.
I don’t think it’s a big deal that it’s AI, as long as you enjoy the music.
I find it less offensive on YouTube honestly. Those playlists you mention specifically are like a novelty that you can explore for fun.
But on Spotify when it gets shoved onto your playlists without warning..
But on Spotify when it gets shoved onto your playlists without warning..
Most people wont listen to your music when you make it your self too
I’ve been using tidal since forever because Spotify’s recommendations were crap, and Apple Music’s weren’t good.
I think I’ve heard one AI slop thing in my daily discovery queue, once.
It’s hard to say if that one track was ai slop or not, given my tastes (I downloaded Poppy, Music to Scream To, for example).
I think I’ve heard one AI slop thing in my daily discovery queue, once.
It’s hard to say if that one track was ai slop or not, given my tastes (I downloaded Poppy, Music to Scream To, for example).
Spotify recommended me a song I kind of liked "What's the Matter with John Brown" by a band called The Roux and when I googled it to get more info about the band I found a thread on reddit /r/music discussing whether or not it was AI music.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AI_Music/comments/1m522g2/is_this_a...
I still haven't figured out if it's AI or not but there is no info about the band online, touring show details, photos etc, so I am leaning towards it is a fake AI band.
It would be nice if AI-music was watermarked in some way so we could filter it out.
For audible (for now, until Audible kills it!) there is a chrome and firefox extension called "devirtualizer" that removes all AI-narrated books from your results: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/devirtualizeaudible...
https://www.reddit.com/r/AI_Music/comments/1m522g2/is_this_a...
I still haven't figured out if it's AI or not but there is no info about the band online, touring show details, photos etc, so I am leaning towards it is a fake AI band.
It would be nice if AI-music was watermarked in some way so we could filter it out.
For audible (for now, until Audible kills it!) there is a chrome and firefox extension called "devirtualizer" that removes all AI-narrated books from your results: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/devirtualizeaudible...
AI slop is starting to remind me of Atari in the early 80s that lead up to the video game crash of 1983. Content saturation of the lowest form in quality pushed to make money.
I love making AI music.
Sometimes I freestyle rap over instrumentals that I’ve created with AI, record myself and then use that recording to create an AI song.
Some of the songs I really love, like this one:
https://suno.com/s/o4oyu5Eq7nMdQyzK
There’d be more to say - but of course, creating songs without regard to their quality or your input in them is slop that shouldn’t be shared.
Sometimes I freestyle rap over instrumentals that I’ve created with AI, record myself and then use that recording to create an AI song.
Some of the songs I really love, like this one:
https://suno.com/s/o4oyu5Eq7nMdQyzK
There’d be more to say - but of course, creating songs without regard to their quality or your input in them is slop that shouldn’t be shared.
Lots of people love making them, almost nobody likes listen to them so you are the audience of the app you use to create it, not a creator.
And theres nothing wrong with that. The issue is people like Altman thinking creativity et al is just a formulaic mish-mash of what exists and is not as difficult. Like yeah ok mate....
Fully agree on that. You have to pour your creative spirit into it in one way or another.
My favorite AI songs are those that have been created with human intervention and creativity, not just button mashing
My favorite AI songs are those that have been created with human intervention and creativity, not just button mashing
I wrote an article on this: https://narcissus.medium.com/i-could-be-addicted-to-my-own-a...
Basically, what we’re seeing is the personalization of media.
Basically, what we’re seeing is the personalization of media.
Now create a HN clone where the Aai audience enjoys your content.
Given parent’s handle I think you’re on to something.
My parents gave me a wonderful gift: a loophole for my narcissism
As a tool, it could be useful as a starting point (a way to get your creativity going), but the sound is completely wrong.
Early Udio generated songs when run through a stem splitter were horrible to listen to and you could hear how it was just generating the frequencies with none of the texture—like a simulation of the frequencies an instrument would produce.
At the very least they should be re-recorded with real instruments and vocals or using the existing digital tools. Slop is one word; I like to use mush, as that is what it sounds like when you really listen closely.
Early Udio generated songs when run through a stem splitter were horrible to listen to and you could hear how it was just generating the frequencies with none of the texture—like a simulation of the frequencies an instrument would produce.
At the very least they should be re-recorded with real instruments and vocals or using the existing digital tools. Slop is one word; I like to use mush, as that is what it sounds like when you really listen closely.
I think it’s useful in a number of ways.
The sound is amazing if you’re doing it right. I produce music using the old fashioned way, with a DAW, and have done for decades, and there are some songs that I’ve made with AI that I go to again and again because they sound great.
The sound is amazing if you’re doing it right. I produce music using the old fashioned way, with a DAW, and have done for decades, and there are some songs that I’ve made with AI that I go to again and again because they sound great.
Here’s another: https://suno.com/s/v3LuDD9SjVPohVB7
I listened to both and they both sounded soul-less.
Depends on what you mean by souless. According to the textbook definition, as someone who’s been into music production for more than 20 years in one capacity or another, and that has listened to innumerable songs across every genre imaginable, agree to disgree.
Not to your liking sure, maybe you think it even sucks. But souless nah
Not to your liking sure, maybe you think it even sucks. But souless nah
I did not feel anything when listening to the song. The purpose of music is to move oneself, particularly emotionally.
As an example to represent the point - this is known to put many on the verge of tears/in a stream of tears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxNbZLh0PaA&list=RDWxNbZLh0P...
As an example to represent the point - this is known to put many on the verge of tears/in a stream of tears: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxNbZLh0PaA&list=RDWxNbZLh0P...
The beauty of music is that it’s based on preference.
Some songs that move my friends have absolutely no effect on me, and vice versa. That doesn’t mean the song is soulless - it is just that the preferences don’t align.
Some songs that move my friends have absolutely no effect on me, and vice versa. That doesn’t mean the song is soulless - it is just that the preferences don’t align.
Lol, you are not someone worth debating with. Stick to your biases and continue producing music that no one else cares about. Cool.
Just dont share it with the rest of us who actually have taste.
Just dont share it with the rest of us who actually have taste.
Seemed adequately soulful to me. Not my favorite, but better than I could do. As another bit of anecdata.
Thx
one thing that I've never regretted, and is paying dividends, is that I've been buying and collecting physical music since I was a teen and grown my own library. Thankfully I have a lot of music buffs in my family who encouraged it.
What I do is pick one or two dozen records at the beginning of the year and limit myself to them, listen actively instead of just putting it on, don't just treat it like noise. Don't need to bother with any subscription service or AI bs. Even before the AI slop if you looked at the numbers, random influencer crap was much more heavily promoted than some of the greatest music in human history, there's such a recency bias in the entire streaming industry.
What I do is pick one or two dozen records at the beginning of the year and limit myself to them, listen actively instead of just putting it on, don't just treat it like noise. Don't need to bother with any subscription service or AI bs. Even before the AI slop if you looked at the numbers, random influencer crap was much more heavily promoted than some of the greatest music in human history, there's such a recency bias in the entire streaming industry.
Spotify's biggest enemy are the record labels that they have to pay license fees to. Slowly ramp up the AI slop while ramping down the label-owned material and hope subscribers don't notice. It's a play that worked for Netflix, which used to have every major show a decade ago and is now majority mass-produced Netflix Original slop.
> Spotify's biggest enemy are the record labels that they have to pay license fees to.
Spotify's biggest enemy is Spotify. Apple Music doesn't have this problem.
Spotify's biggest enemy is Spotify. Apple Music doesn't have this problem.
Apple Music isn't a solo business and doesn't report its figures publicly, so it's not known if its margins would be sustainable if it weren't anchored to its much bigger Software and Services unit, which itself is anchored to an even bigger hardware sales unit.
Spotify pays ~70% of revenue to rights-holders, so unless you assume that Apple is paying a lot more, Apple Music is almost certainly profitable both as a standalone service and as a strategic bundle driver.
Apple pays about 3x as much per stream as Spotify according to most sources.
https://musosoup.com/blog/does-apple-music-pay-artists-more-...
https://musosoup.com/blog/does-apple-music-pay-artists-more-...
And this is because Spotify has a free, ad-based tier that pays way less than the paid premium listeners. Whereas Apple Music is all paying users (ignored the limited free trial)
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I noticed music in TV shows is AI slop so they don't have to pay licensing fees lately as well. I was watching Unsolved the series about the Notorious BIG and Tupac murders a few weeks ago and in one of the club scenes a "Biggie" song that I'd never heard of was playing in the background, I wasn't familiar with that song so I googled it and it was an ai Biggie inspired recreation, not one of his actual songs.
That's awful. Stuff like this is why I mourn the loss of MTV and VH1; they would actually license artists' music in their Behind the Music documentary episodes, I discovered a lot of artists that way.
The Beavis & Butthead and Daria shows in the '90s also used a lot of licensed music. When the DVD versions arrived in the mid-2000s, the music was removed and replaced by stock instrumentals; I'm not sure the torrents of the original versions are even being seeded anymore.
The Beavis & Butthead and Daria shows in the '90s also used a lot of licensed music. When the DVD versions arrived in the mid-2000s, the music was removed and replaced by stock instrumentals; I'm not sure the torrents of the original versions are even being seeded anymore.
> When the DVD versions arrived in the mid-2000s, the music was removed and replaced by stock instrumentals;
That's so annoying- that can replace the entire feel of a scene!
In the Unsolved instance I was annoyed because I was like, huh, I don't know this song let me go check it out, I thought I knew his whole catalogue! and then it was frustrating that it was just "him" singing some nonsense fake song. Just eery how they used an identical sounding voice too.
That's so annoying- that can replace the entire feel of a scene!
In the Unsolved instance I was annoyed because I was like, huh, I don't know this song let me go check it out, I thought I knew his whole catalogue! and then it was frustrating that it was just "him" singing some nonsense fake song. Just eery how they used an identical sounding voice too.
I found the Daria Restoration Project online a few years ago. Haven't watched it yet, because the quality is more in line with 2000s Limewire DivX files. But if I do decide to watch the show, it should be with the original music.
It is sad, but not surprising, that the primary driver behind AI is the "Do everything as cheap as possible" mindset - not for innovation, especially not for quality.
>which used to have every major show a decade ago and is now majority mass-produced Netflix Original slop.
Many Apple Original, Amazon Original, Comcast Original, Disney Original, Skydance Original, Sony Original, are also “slop”.
Many Apple Original, Amazon Original, Comcast Original, Disney Original, Skydance Original, Sony Original, are also “slop”.
How about vinyl? How much AI slop is being pressed onto vinyl records?
I would imagine not very much? The people buying vinyl are buying as a collectors item or because of its audio qualities. It's very easy to accidentally listen to something that's AI generated, you have to very actively purchase a vinyl. It also costs virtually nothing to get music on Spotify but is relatively expensive to get anything on vinyl.
Zero. Vinyl has costs of production, AI slop doesn't.
Not zero: https://www.reddit.com/r/fantanoforever/comments/1jnf82d/guy...
On a related note, my vinyl collection is looking more and more prescient over time.
If streaming gets sufficiently bad, I’ll just spend the subscription fee on newly released records, and artists will get a lot more than they do now.
On a related note, my vinyl collection is looking more and more prescient over time.
If streaming gets sufficiently bad, I’ll just spend the subscription fee on newly released records, and artists will get a lot more than they do now.
rchaud(1)
We're being both figuratively and literally boiled alive by what AI is doing to our civilization.
Tangent to this, some AI software is good for to experimentation. Here is an excellent example - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=alb_ZFHVXCU
https://en.deezercommunity.com/product-updates/deezer-just-r...