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Like it or not, AI as a songwriting tool is here to stay.
To everyone who says "real songwriters wouldn't use AI" ..... Well it seems like they are, and have been. This is a story about the writers in Nashville.
Story by Joe Wilkins (12-7-25)
The Country Music Industry Has Discovered That AI Can Crank Out Hits Like Crazy
What do small towns, cold beer, and fast-talkin' algorithms have in common?
Country music producers in Nashville are increasingly turning to AI tools like Suno, following a long pattern of industrialization.
For decades, the country music industry has billed itself as the rough-hewn, rural cousin to the effete sounds of the city. That appears to be going out the window, as more and more country producers embrace San Francisco’s AI over Nashville’s homespun troubadours.
In a detailed reporting on changes in the country music industry, The Verge spoke to a number of professional song-writers, producers, and artists about the rise of AI in country music. Their responses point to a scene that’s changing fast — and leaving human artists in the dust.
The songwriter Trannie Anderson, for example, called the tech “ubiquitous” throughout Nashville, the epicenter of the country music industry. Anderson, who’s written for artists like Reba McEntire, said everyone’s using it: “from entry-level songwriters to the top dogs.” (Sources who talked to The Verge confirmed big wigs like Jelly Roll and Dustin Lynch are being sent song demos with their own voices digitally synthesized.)
Eric Olson, a publisher interviewed by The Verge, encourages country song writers to use AI to come up with song samples, saying it saves tons of time in the work day. “If I can give Suno the last 20 percent and spend more time with my kids, that’s huge,” he said.
While AI tools like Suno can generate just about everything a music producer needs — lyrics, backup vocals, melodies — they’re mainly being used for demo production, according to reporting.
When up-and-coming singer-songwriter Maggie Reaves got a contract from a “major artist” with a one-day turnaround, for example, she wrote the song on paper before throwing it into Suno, according to The Verge. Her publisher told her it was “perfect.”
“This is going straight to her,” her publisher said. In the country music scene at least, demo recording is an important source of revenue for working musicians. Still, though it’s an integral part of the country music ecosystem, it can be expensive. AI offers a cost efficient alternative. “I immediately saw this [AI] could replace that,” Reaves told The Verge.
Considering country music’s history, it’s a rather fitting turn for the industry. As folk music journalist Kim Ruehl observed, contemporary pop-country came to prominence as the commercial arm of American folk music. “The difference is the involvement of big business in the development of the careers of country stars,” Ruehl wrote on the question of country’s folk origins.
That being the case, the drive for efficiency with AI — cutting production costs and increasing profit — is best understood as the next logical step for the industry, not a freak departure from the norm.
There are numerous examples of “industrial advancements” throughout pop-country’s lifespan. Consider the “Countrypolitan era” of the 1960s, in which producer Billy Sherrill refined the process of pumping out chart-topping pop ballads, or the “Hat Act” era of Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson, defined by thematic conformity and the massive consolidation of country radio.
One of the prime examples of this — and arguably commercial country’s point of origin — was the “Nashville sound,” which came to replace bawdry, blue-collar honky tonk with mechanically-produced pop hits. Instead of AI, producers in this era turned to “the A Team,” a stable of reliable session musicians in Nashville, to maximize studio time and streamline popular songwriting formulas. Together, the A Team has contributed to tens of thousands of tracks, laying the groundwork for country music as a commercial industry.
So, while AI might be taking country music to a dark place, it’s really par for the course for a business constantly striving for mass market appeal above all else. Just ask any honky tonk fan.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Songwriting
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Yep, Joe's saying out loud what everyone is thinking. Years from now (maybe not too many years) my son will be saying to his friends, "My dad used to sit around the basement and write songs without AI. Isn't THAT SO weird?"
DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
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Songwriting
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Be careful about using this to justify using AI to write your songs.
It's not about that - at all.
I have yet to see (hear) an AI write that wouldn't get ya shown-the-door if you put your own name on it.
(But the melodies are top-notch - so that - using the melody - could be happening. You still have to be capable of a pro-level lyric to put on top of it.)
This is posted in the wrong forum.
This is about production. Mostly demo production.
I sincerely wish I'd had SUNO for production while I was in Nashville. Demos (in the 90's) ran $400 a pop (for truly "competing" demos).
And when everyone is writing multiple songs a week, SUNO must be a godsend (demo production-wise).
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Songwriting
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Apprentice
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Man, this was just so interesting. Thanks for posting that article.
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Yep, Joe's saying out loud what everyone is thinking. Years from now (maybe not too many years) my son will be saying to his friends, "My dad used to sit around the basement and write songs without AI. Isn't THAT SO weird?" Ron - embrace the weirdness! Andrew
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Yep, Joe's saying out loud what everyone is thinking. Years from now (maybe not too many years) my son will be saying to his friends, "My dad used to sit around the basement and write songs without AI. Isn't THAT SO weird?" Ron, you mean like the kids today saying "What's a record player"?
It takes courage for a man to admit his wife was wrong.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Songwriting
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OP
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Be careful about using this to justify using AI to write your songs.
It's not about that - at all.
I have yet to see (hear) an AI write that wouldn't get ya shown-the-door if you put your own name on it.
(But the melodies are top-notch - so that - using the melody - could be happening. You still have to be capable of a pro-level lyric to put on top of it.)
This is posted in the wrong forum.
This is about production. Mostly demo production.
I sincerely wish I'd had SUNO for production while I was in Nashville. Demos (in the 90's) ran $400 a pop (for truly "competing" demos).
And when everyone is writing multiple songs a week, SUNO must be a godsend (demo production-wise). Floyd, I'm pretty clear regarding your viewpoint on AI with what you said about not commenting on anything I put in the showcase that you suspect contains AI whether it's the music or the vocals. This article simply says the pros are using it whether they admit to it or not. Maybe even some of the songs on your deep dive list have AI origins. If you haven't seen any top quality lyrics from an AI / human collaboration, you're not paying attention or it's actually so good that you didn't even realize or recognize it as AI. And no, this is the exact forum this post needs to be in. The topic is writing songs using AI assistance, and how that's being done by professional songwriters in Nashville. It has nothing to do with production and everything to do with writing. And then you close by saying you sincerely wish you had Suno back in the day when you were trying to get a cut while you were in Nashville. I'm puzzled. Are you still adamant about not using it or are you considering going to the dark side Edit to add: maybe you should consider working with AI on your songs. It will open doors, let you see possibilities, and help you break out of the old patterns. If it doesn't, just grab your pad and pencil and keep on going.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 1 hour ago.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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[And no, this is the exact forum this post needs to be in. The topic is writing songs using AI assistance, and how that's being done by professional songwriters in Nashville. It has nothing to do with production and everything to do with writing.
And then you close by saying you sincerely wish you had Suno back in the day when you were trying to get a cut while you were in Nashville.
I'm puzzled. Are you still adamant about not using it or are you considering going to the dark side I believe floyd jane was focusing on Suno for creating pro-level demos, which is what most of the people in the article are doing. Songs they had written themselves, with lyrics the had written themselves, and then quickly create pro-level demos of. Speaking for myself, I'm on this forum to not only share music, but see what people can do with BiaB. It's fine if people want to use other tools, but I don't think this is the forum to do that in. YMMV.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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