What the advent of AI means for music producers (Spoiler: I'm no longer sending out loops bc of it)

a picture of a robot playing a synthesizer generated by AI

There were only a handful of producers focused on sending out samples only a couple of years ago, but just in the last 5 years with the advent of Splice, Arcade, and an abundance of really great tutorials, you could pretty much speed run a music production career.

These new tools lowered the barrier of entry into the music world and helped saturate the market. I think the advent of music AI tools will create a similar dynamic and it's crucial for music producers to adapt.

Your technical abilities will not matter in a couple of years

If we look at how much production changed from 3-4 years ago. Splice offers HQ royalty free sample packs and is installed on every major studio computer I’ve been to. There are multi-platinum producers doing in depths tutorials of their biggest songs. More plugins with amazing sounds right out the gate are coming out every day (there goes your sound design skills). There are tons of plugins with chord generators (there goes your music theory knowledge).

The barrier of entry to music production gets lowered with every new tool we add. As a result, the sample game has become highly saturated, with many talented and ambitious producers vying for the same opportunities.

All of the skills that gave us a place in this eco-system (musical knowledge and sound design skills) is becoming so accessible that being able to make outstanding samples is no longer a unique, value-adding skill of a select few. 14 year olds with 6 months of experience could make Drum Broker worthy samples at this point.

Sending out Loops has always been like playing the lottery but the chances of a winning ticket are decreasing with every passing day. In this environment, it's already becoming increasingly difficult to stand out and get noticed based on technical skills alone, but the advent of AI will supercharge this dynamic further.

Focus on building skills that AI can't replicate

In my top 5 most used plugins are Soothe (by OEK Sound) and the God Particle (by Cradle) both of which use AI in some capacities to speed up tedious mixing tasks that usually take a lot of skill and time to get right.

When people send me samples that don't have a B-part that I would need for a verse part i'm regularly using piano scribe (a free website using neural networks trained for polyphonic transcription by the engineers of google) to figure out the chords and add a new part myself.

I was in a session last week where one of Germany's biggest artist picked a beat with a sample that was generated by clicking 3 notes on an advanced sound generator. I was not able to tell that the sample was made by a machine because it had so much depths.

As AI technology continues to advance, many skills that were previously considered unique and valuable in the music production industry are becoming more widely accessible. This includes things like sound design, engineering, and composition. We're only at the beginning of this new era but AI tools are already incredibly powerful and they will become even more powerful in the future.

In order to succeed in this changing landscape, it's important for producers to focus on skills that are more difficult for AI to replicate, such as social skills and taste. Being in the room with artists, pushing them to do their best work, and maintaining a positive vibe during long sessions can be crucial for getting placements and making a living as a producer. In the future, producers who can demonstrate these skills and build strong relationships with artists and industry professionals will be more likely to succeed than those who rely solely on their technical abilities.

How to succeed in the AI music production world

I fully realized this trend a couple of months ago and immediately stopped sending out samples. Instead of focusing all of my studio to create loops to send out, I focused on going to sessions.

This way I no longer compete in an oversaturated, skill-based environment that is about to be taken over by AI anytime soon anyway. Rather, I'm already building my network, so that when the day comes that AI can generate Kingsway-quality samples, I still have work. I would recommend you do the same. Get out your bedroom and really connect on a human level with you peers, so that your value add is not merely technical.

Trying to end on a positive note, i think that the role of the producer in the AI world will likely look a lot like classical producers such as Rick Rubin or Quincy Jones. We will likely use AI generated ideas to build on, but rather focus on big picture ideas (do we need guitars on the verse? do we start with the chorus or the verse? etc.). We can really focus on creating the art that we want to see in the world without being limited by the computing powers of our brains.

4 Easy Steps on How to Get Major Placements as a New Producer

I get a lot of dm's daily and one question that seems to come up in a lot of conversations with younger producers is "How can i get a Placement with a Major Artist as a Music Producer?"

I thought i start this Blog, so I can just send this Blog Article whenever the questions comes up.

The short answer is to make great music and send it out daily like your life depended on it.

The long answer is a little more nuanced. If you are just starting out and music isn't your full-time job yet, it's important to not waste any of your limited studio time. An effective process is key if you want to get major placements as an unknown producer just starting out.

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1. Have Specific Goals

In order to achieve your goals, make them as specific as possible. I try not to formulate my goals like "I want two major placements" but rather "I want to work with Trippie Redd". Limiting your options is key to effective progress towards your goal. Once you singled out a few artist you would love to work you can use your studio time more intentional.

2. Study the Artists You Want to Work with

Once you chose the artist you want to work with, go to their Spotify and check their 10 most played tracks and pay close attention to the bpm ranges they choose. Usually artist have a range they seem to be gravitating toward (e.g. Tyga usually picks club tempos around 100 bpm, while Lil Baby beats usually range between 140-160bpm).

Then pay attention to the key of their songs. Usually artist have a range of 2-3 notes where their vocals sounds the strongest/most natural (e.g. between E and F#). Of course people can pitch your samples later on, but i try to make it as easy as possible for the people I work with. The less friction and steps between opening your email and having the artist record to it, the more likely it is, they'll choose your music.

Also play attention to the sounds they use or not use (some people love pads that are chaotic, others prefer simple and open guitar ideas).

Of course, you want to push the boundaries a bit and offer artist vibes they haven't heard a million times before, but it should be in the ballpark of where they feel most comfortable (google "most advanced yet acceptable" for a design principle that was used by the dude who made the iconic Coke bottles or the Air Force One logo).

3. Study their Insta-live Videos / Twitch Streams / Recent Studio Content

Artists like Tory Lanez often release records that have a specific sound. Tory released a "Alone at Prom" in 2021, a record that was heavily influenced by 80s music. If you notice that an artist is working on a 80s project, make sure to send music that falls somewhere in that genre. It doesn't make sense to send rage loops if you notice all of their Instagram livestreams had beats that sounded like prime Michael Jackson. While the tempos and keys might still be the same, the sound selection might change, so it's important to always send music that sounds exactly like the type of music the artists seem to be loving at that time.

4. Study their Credits on Genius.com

While some major artist still check their dm's and you can just ask them to send beats, most of them get so overwhelmed that it's impossible to reach out to them directly. So try to reach out to people in their team, either their producers, their songwriters, their engineers or their A&R's (i'll write a blog post on how to write a good first DM in the future, because that is another question i get asked frequently).

Generally, when you reach out to people make two things clear: how their career can profit from working with you, and what you bring to the table that makes you special. They have to feel confident that passing on what you sent them will make them look good.

Also make sure it's as easy to use as possible: sample for the producers should be in the right range of bpm's and keys; songs you send to A&R's should be mixed well (potentially have hooks) and be something that sounds like the artist would pick rn. Always include the bpm, the key and your producer name in the file name, the less friction, the better.

Label your projects and have them ready if anyone asks for stems, the less, friction the better.

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This is my process and it helped produce Billboard #1 and platinum records. I can't promise you that these specific 4 steps will work in 10 years in an industry that changes as fast as the music industry. I'm confident, however, that the underlying principles will always work: have specific goals, network a lot and make sure you're always an asset to the people you work with by making their jobs easier and making them look good.

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In order to increase the chances of people opening your emails and responding to you, it's important to work on your online brand, too. Grow your audience, have professional looking profiles, have some snippets online (so people know what you sound like) and most importantly have social proof: post about your successes e.g., past smaller indie placements or Timbaland using your samples in a livestream, etc.

When I started sending out samples my response rate was 2 out of 10, so i took another year to get really good and when I started sending out samples later, my response rate would shoot to 7 out of 10. So if people ignore your Dm's, your music might simply not be there yet.

I described how using this process lead me to having a song on a Trippie Redd record in this interview I did for Artistconnect (it's in German but has English subtitles):