How this thread got started.

I left the guitar, piano/keyboard, tube amplifier building, PG Music forum, and most everything else to rebuild a boat I bought.

Shortly before I left, I had acquired some new software to produce vocals. David Cuny was very well-versed in the software, so he helped me get started. Thanks, David!

Around that same time or a little before I found ChatGPT. That was the first AI I had anything directly to do with that I was aware of.

As the boat is more or less finished I now have time to get back to music and this forum. Well, there is the issue of spending more time with my wife before she changes the locks on the front door...lol

One of the first things I wanted to know was what had changed in the last year.

I have never been able to sing very well. That never stopped me but you guys have had to endure my vocals so you no the issue...lol

That is why I started looking for a software solution to produce vocals.

I had never heard the word Suno, had no idea what it was or could do. I logged on to the site, put in a three or four-word prompt and what I considered very plausible music was generated.

At that moment I was not giving any thought to the wider implications of AI-generated music.

I certainly have empathy for those among us who have been negatively affected economically by AI.

On any controversial subject, we tend to discuss all the problems. We rarely have in-depth conversations about possible solutions.

The economic realities of the music business have been seriously problematic all of my lifetime, and I suspect forever.

For me personally, I decided when I was very young to engage in ways to make money that supported my desire to play music and forgo the riggers of trying to make money playing music.

I also had a love for flying airplanes but knew the same general conditions existed for pilots, unstable working conditions. So I never depended on flying to make a living. Same for boating.

Yes, I play music and sometimes spend stupid sums of money doing so. Yes, I have a multi-engine instrument-rated commercial pilot licenses and type ratings that I paid ungodly sums of money to acquire and yes I have a US Coast Guard Masters Ship license. And yes I have occasionally made a few dollars doing all three things.

So, I solved the issue of being a slave and working for peanuts in the music business by working my butt off in my own businesses and at times working for corporate America. I am pushing 80 and I am still working.
That answer may not work for others.

We should discuss how we solve the economic issues caused by AI for people here who are actually being affected on this site. And further how we deal with the emotional issues of having to deal with AI.

Many of us have been around here for years and know each other pretty well. Some of us have sat down and eaten dinner together. We should try to support each other.

Cheers,

Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”