As AI-generated music floods streaming platforms, questions bubble over whether listeners are owed more transparency.

A survey published last week suggested 97% of respondents could not spot an AI-generated song. But there are some telltale signs - if you know where to look.

Here’s a quick guide …

  • No live performances or social media presence

  • ‘A mashup of rock hits in a blender’

A song with a formulaic feel - sweet but without much substance or emotional weight - can be a sign of AI, says the musician and technology speaker, as well as vocals that feel breathless.

  • ‘AI hasn’t felt heartbreak yet’

“AI hasn’t felt heartbreak yet… It knows patterns,” he explains. “What makes music human is not just sound but the stories behind it.”

  • Steps toward transparency

In January, the streaming platform Deezer launched an AI detection tool, followed this summer by a system which tags AI-generated music.

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
    102·
    4 days ago

    Bullshit. This only applies to fully prompt generated AI music. Tracks that heavily rely on AI based tech as a part of the process are harder to catch, and tracks that only use AI for mixing and mastering are impossible to detect.

    I made a track but used AI to autotune and morph my voice to that of a woman’s. It even allowe me to tweak the expressiveness of the voice. The track is 95% human made but the vocals are AI modified. I’m willing to be that the ration of AI use in a lot of pop music and EDM is a lot higher.

    PS: I make music for myself, as a hobby. I just wanted to make something to share with my friends. If you want real music, try bands like Wet Leg, IDLES, GEESE, etc who lean into making low tech music.

    • brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Compression throws me off.

      That AI ‘hiss’ is ringing it my ears, but its very, very similar to YT uploads that have been re-encoded like 10 times. Which is a lot of them.

      Out of curiosity, I made spectrograms of the AI song and concert that sounds ‘clean’ yet kinda noisy/compressed to me. I won’t tell you which one is which:

      Source song, if you are curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MydFq0io-tQ

      • Jo Miran@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        3 days ago

        That song was a mistake that got generated when I pasted the wrong clipboard into Suno’s Lyrics window on my phone and accidentally submitted it. It has not been processed at all. Suno has a “Remaster” feature that when you are happy with the generated song you can give it a few automated “mix and mastering” passes to generate a cleaner and more dynamic sound.

        I’ve mainly used Suno to mess about so I didn’t want to pay for the upgrade.