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Generative AI killed my niche music subgenre, and how I lost two longtime friends to AI psychosis. (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 6 days ago by to c/fuck_ai@lemmy.world
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I am a musician/music profucer who made trance music (subgenre of electronic music) for 18 years. I had my ups and downs in this scene, a few releases accumulated during that period, occasional breaks etc... but nothing had me prepared for what was to come. 

I had already noticed an infestation of AI generated cover art in the past years. While it was quite deplorable, I figured the music itself, at the very least, was safe. Knowing how passionate this community can be about what is "real trance" and what isn't, I figured that any kind of "AI music" or anything AI related being used in the genre would be met with universal rejection and controversy (similar to how back in the early 2010s there was massive backlash over the "housification" of trance music as a result of the EDM boom in the USA).

Boy, I was SO wrong and naïve in thinking like this. 

Late last year on Facebook, a relatively well-known music producer had posted an (obviously Chat got generated) announcement late last year that he will be using "AI generated vocals" in his music going forward. One of the biggest trance music forums had a discussion about this and based on the posts I saw there, the main opinions ranged from "you can't stop AI" and "what u gonna do about it, start a civil war bro" to outright full on support of generative AI. Barely anyone was calling this out as unacceptable behaviour from a producer and a terrible thing to do in general for the health of the scene. I found that that same forum is being moderated/administered by pro-AI shills, as one of the admins even had a post encouraging people to "post their AI generated tracks here". 

All of this was incredibly disturbing and heartbreaking on so many levels... it made me deeply unmotivated to continue making any trance music, as well as deeply depressed, a depression I am STILL suffering from. What's the point of making this niche music? Why spend 10+ hours on a single track only for it to be listened to by pro-AI shitheads that would gladly throw you and everyone else under the bus for some pitiful crumbs of dopamine? Why throw pearls for swine?

Every day was full of mental suffering. Back in spring this year it got so bad I was nearly ready to end things... until I mustered up the mental strength to simply.. let go. 

Letting go of my attachment to this beloved music scene was incredibly difficult. I had pretty much grown up with this scene, spent my adolescence and young adult years listening to trance daily and producing it myself under a couple of different aliases. Seeing the community just blatantly accept AI slop invading, even mostly supporting generative AI in general, it was incredibly heartbreaking. 

-- On a related note, I've also lost two close, longtime friends, both trance fans, to AI psychosis. I never expected those people to ever end up and be this way, it came as a shock.

The first one (let's call him K) was also a trance producer-turned-metalhead nowadays leading a metalcore band. I noticed last year in 2025 already that K was using AI generated slop on socials promoting his bad, using it for covers and also for "female vocals". I confronted him about it only for him to get angry, call it a "small issue" and make bullshit arguments about how AI isn't even that bad, how it's actually "greener than traditional art" etc. I temporarily stopped talking to him after this conflict hoping that maybe he would come to his senses and realize the error of his ways. 

I later found out that K is an active user on a Reddit subreddit that defends AI "Art". He even made posts about me there about our fallout over his use of gen AI, hoping to have the other lunatics give him validation about how he is in the right and I'm insane for calling him out. Reading all the insults and labels the AI defending lunatics commented about me ("chronically online" "12 years old" "not a true friend" etc.) was difficult. Of course I cut off all contact with him after this. At the time I didn't really let this whole thing get to me, I figured that this would be just an isolated case.

Then, back in spring this year (during the peak of my severe depression because of gen AI), I lost another friend (let's call him N). He was a diehard trance fanatic since the 90s, and a long time supporter of my own music, a confidant in a way. When I complained to N about my depression caused by the trance scene being destroyed by AI slop, N completely tone deaf to my woes and concerns. I tried to tell him about how bad gen AI is for society, how it is built through theft, how evil billionaires are supporting it... he wouldn't listen. He would tell me about how "there are more important things to be concerned about, like Donald Trump" etc. and labeled me as having "bipolar disorder". I couldn't really understand why N was acting this way. Then, I found out on Facebook, purely by coincidence, his posts in certain Atheism groups. The posts were AI generated "comics" he generated with one of the widely available online generators. Now it all made sense – it turns out he had already taken a bite of the forbidden apple himself, and was actively generating AI slop and publishing it on various Facebook groups, no wonder he was reluctant to even TALK about this subject. Another friend lost. 

Life hasn't really been the same since. I used to be a passionate person full of hopes and dreams but now I feel like an empty shell of my former self. Losing my two closest friends, and the music scene I had surrounded myself with so long has severely impacted my quality of life.

Is there any hope going forward?

TLDR: Musician of nearly two decades, AI slop infested my niche music scene and most people in the scene either completely don't care or even support AI slop; how I lost two longtime friends over gen AI.

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[–] 2 points 4 days ago

We shouldn't be surprised that it's the Electronic Music folks that would enthusiastically embrace AI, they are already deep into the tech stuff more than most musicians. They would be predisposed to accept technological progress, just as they have since the MOOG hit the scene in the mid-60s. Nobody was complaining when synthesizers became polyphonic.

Look, AI music is here to stay, but there will always be people who will totally reject it, and gravitate toward genuine organic music like yours, even if it's in an electronic genre. It will be even more pronounced in music that is generated manually, like guitars and vocals. I am one of those people, who will be avoiding AI music as much as possible, and will support real musicians, composing and playing real music.

Not defending AI at all, but we have been accepting of electronic drums, and even other electronic replacement instruments like basses, for decades. In the future, AI is going to be used on every recording somewhere, even if its only embedded deep in the bowels of some mastering process or something. That would be acceptable to nearly everyone.

But there are lines, and they just haven't been fully drawn yet, they're still blurry. The two most sensitive areas are composition and performance. How much AI is acceptable in a composition? If it's nearly entirely human composed, but they accessed AI for suggestions about a few troublesome lyrical rhymes, should it be stomped? If a track is entirely human performed, but with Steve Slate digital drums, is that okay, because it isn't AI drums? What if that same drum track is fully created by AI, using digital drums? What's the difference?

You still have a foot outside the electronic world, so you have a more open perspective on the issue, but your friends are so deep into that world that they only see the advantages of AI in making their jobs easier, and not the longer term problems. Or maybe they just don't care, which is the case with many people. If it makes life easier, what are you whining about?

You need to adopt the attitude that ALL successful musical artists adopt - you don't care what anyone else is doing. You have YOUR music, composed according to YOUR philosophy, and that's YOUR art. Let them do whatever they want, but you have adopted a totally organic philosophy of music, and that's your "genre." Promote that, don't worry about what others are doing, and you'll find other composers, musicians, and music fans gravitating to YOUR art.

If it's getting so bad that you are considering an end game, go talk to a medical professional about your feelings. This AI stuff, and all the other garbage that's happening in America is wearing us all down, but it will only be temporary, the assholes will NOT win. Keep plugging away, and force your mind to think positively. Lincoln, who struggled with depression in a very tough time in America, said "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be." It seems simplistic, but it is definitely the first strategy to try before escalating to medical stuff.

So try to maintain a positive attitude, and pour it into your music. If you are getting worn down by AI and other current events, compose about that. Use your ORGANIC music to spread the message about ORGANIC music. And use the word ORGANIC, a LOT of people are downright militant about organic stuff, and will support it intensely.

Now is not the time to give up, it's the time to dig in and fight back. We need your real music to build a wall against synthetic music. You've lost friends to AI, and perhaps you can mend those rifts, but search around for others like you. They're out there, and looking for other organic musicians like yourself. Once you surround yourself with like minded musicians, you'll feel a lot better.

Good luck brother, you still have friends in Organic Music, never forget it.

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