A.I. Will Win When It Can Be Derivative Like Nirvana
Until then attribution, royalty payments, quality, and creativity will define the rules.
Mass adoption of A.I. came in a pretty short period of time. It’s only a matter of time before there are social cool factors to navigate when choosing your A.I. tools. I have no doubt the same sort of judgements and fanboys/fangirls that accompany current hardware and software is just around the corner.
Chat GPT, Gemini, and scores of others will pick up right where Apple vs Samsung, iOS vs Android, blue text bubble vs green text bubble currently are.
Similar to sampling that emerged in 80s hip-hop and continued to dominate into the 90s and beyond, borrowing from other’s brilliance is not new. And just like music, the true rules and etiquette of A.I. won’t be truly settled until there are clear rules around payments, royalties, and proper attribution of sources.
Hip-hop wasn’t shy about borrowing brilliance, and whether or not you like the genre, or feel a certain way about whether producing tracks/beats counts as making music is irrelevant. It’s popular and can be lucrative for both the Yacht Rock and Rock the Bells crowds. Just ask Warren G, Michael McDonald, and the Doobie Brothers..
Warren G’s 1994 Billboard hit and hip hop classic “Regulate” samples from McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near)”, and made it onto the soundtrack for “Above The Rim” a movie released the same year by New Line Cinema starring Duane Martin, Tupac Shakur, and Marlon Wayans.
I 100% stand behind creatives deserving to get credit and/or payment where their works are being borrowed from. It’s harder to police this since the internet is so vast. Until then, A.I.’s biggest non-technical gains will come when creativity and genius go unquestioned despite using of A.I.
When it’s possible to be derivative like Nirvana while using A.I.
Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged album is largely other people’s work. Cover songs of David Bowie, The Vaselines, Meat Puppets, and Lead Belly.
In an interview with Pharrell Williams, Dave Grohl admits that he takes his drum style on Nirvana straight “from the Gap Band, and Cameo and [Chic]’s Tony Thompson on every one of those songs.”
Pixies lead singer Frank Black has said on multiple occasions that Nirvana copied their style of play. He’s not wrong.
“Come As You Are” is 100% using the “Eighties” base line by Killing Joke. Although Killing Joke accused Nirvana of plagiarism, it didn’t stop them from collaborating with Dave Grohl years later with both Killing Joke and Foo Fighters projects.
Kurt Cobain once began playing Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” at a Nirvana concert before moving into their breakout hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, mischievously acknowledging the similarities in their guitar riffs. I swear, that same drum beat from The Gap Band’s “Burn Rubber” is also pretty similar to the one in Boston’s “More Than a Feeling”
Before the grunge goons come for me, know that I am a fan of Nirvana, I adore the Pixies, and Dave Grohl would likely be on my list of people to invite for those imaginary dinner parties where you are magically allowed to invite people across history, living or dead.
There’s no mudslinging here. Just excitement for the potential of what lies ahead. When we can recognize an undeniable creative force and all the sources of inspiration being pulled from to make something else.
Until then, here’s something that is just a basic image created with A.I.
🎵 Now Streaming 🎵
I’ve been listening to the “Singles - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” a good bit this week. Director Cameron Crowe might have to be sitting next to Dave Grohl at that imaginary dinner I get to have.
That this movie was filmed before the release of many of the defining grunge albums (“Nevermind”by Nirvana, “Ten” by Pearl Jam”, “Dirt” Alice in Chains, “Badmotorfinger” by Soundgarden), yet still featured many of them in the movie and revolved around the music scene they came from is amazing.
Not until this most recent listen did I realize Paul Westerberg of the Replacements is on the soundtrack too. The Replacements somehow evaded me in the 90s, but eventually became a favorite.
Interesting! you know it used to drive me insane that Nirvana had "stolen" Killing Joke's baseline. I never knew KJ actually sued them for plagiarism. Years later I reconciled it thinking they were obviously referencing and hopefully paying homage to something, and that is often done in literature in a way that isn't necessarily plagiarism. That's funny about More Than a Feeling - I'm not sure I ever noticed that - I will have to give it a re-listen. I was a huge Boston fan in 9th grade. Ha! I forgot Cameron Crowe did Singles. I have to see that again - is it rated R? We just watched Say Anything with Virginia, and I forgot that was Cameron Crowe too. I love that movie so much, and the Replacements are in the end of it. The Replacements were my first concert I ever went to in 9th grade (I guess I moved on from Boston to the Replacements at that point...)
I'm not a fan of AI. And I have to admit I am not sure I totally understand your perspective here, but I enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
As the saying goes, it’s all about the remix. Love that you are listening to Singles, one of my fave soundtracks of all time! Dyslexic Heart. I also love Chris Cornell’s “Seasons”…obviously.