AI in the Music Industry: Art or Slop? 

Courtesy of Jem Sahagun

In November 2025, a new song began circulating and gaining traction on TikTok. The song,  “I Run” by HAVEN. seemed to become instantly popular in videos and across many social media platforms. You may remember it from your own ‘For You’ page. However, within a few weeks of its release, suspicions started circulating that the song was in fact a product of AI. The vocals, in particular, were compared to singer Jorja Smith. Smith, however, commented under HAVEN.’s profile, confirming it was not her singing.  After doing a bit more digging on the profiles, it was revealed by a TikTok user that one of the creators of the song plugged the vocal into Suno, an AI music creation program, to give it a higher tone. A new version of the song was released in December with a real singer, and the controversy surrounding the song quickly fizzled out. But it wasn’t to be the last example of AI-generated music not only being produced but gaining the kind of traction or surpassing that of real artists.

 There are several bands on Spotify whose music is completely AI-generated. Most notable is a country/folk band called The Velvet Sundown. One of their songs, “Dust on the Wind,” hit #1 on Spotify earlier this year. And the band has over 1.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Another AI “artist” is Sienna Rose, who is being compared to artists like Olivia Dean. Rose’s music is seen in reviews online and on Spotify as jazzy, slow, and some even say soulful.  

I believe AI-created music should be banned from these streaming platforms.  Music is an art that is created painstakingly by the artists who have spent years on their vocal skills, performing skills, technical and production abilities, and instrumental skills. AI-generated music is not art. Is it “AI slop” as many are calling it? Maybe. Maybe it’s actually pleasing to listen to. But in a world where AI is in danger of taking over many jobs, let’s not let AI take over the arts.  I don’t think music made by a non-human entity can possibly have any ‘soul,’ and if it does, it’s because it’s stolen from the art that was painstakingly created by artists.  

 In some cases, huge artists like Kanye “Ye” West and Blackpink have admitted to using AI programs in their music videos for “530” with Ty Dolla $ign (Ye) and “GO” (Blackpink).  Artists such as Drake and other rappers have also admitted to this. While I don’t listen to Ye or Blackpink, as someone who is an avid music listener of a variety of genres and artists, I think we as listeners need to advocate for the artists who shun its use. 

Palmer Okai ‘26,  a student in the Creativity pathway who presented at the Symposium last year about AI in the arts and music industry, said that,  “It has become increasingly harder to tell which songs are AI or not when compared against ‘real’ songs with human artists.” During the presentation, Okai tested students on whether they could detect this. Most could not, believing the AI song was by an actual band. Okai said he believes that these bands/songs are “pure slop.” There are so many talented, hopeful, up-and-coming artists and musicians right on Conn’s campus. As these AI programs become more advanced, and as it becomes harder to separate human- created from AI-generated music, it takes away from the talent and passion of these artists. Promoting AI on streaming platforms amounts to stealing from real artists on these music platforms. It’s up to our generation to demand that platforms that rely on our subscriptions either drop these “artists” or, at a minimum, label AI artists.