Canadian musicians facing multi-front squeeze from AI, streaming and venue closures

New research shows Canadian musicians are feeling increasingly hostile toward the tech industry and advances like generative AI, which they say are devaluing art and making it harder to gain listeners and earn money from music.

The University of Alberta study surveyed 263 working Canadian musicians about their experiences navigating the industry. It found they feel squeezed by dwindling opportunities in both the physical and virtual worlds, especially as the power to distribute music has become concentrated in the hands of a small number of companies, says Dr. Brian Fauteux, a U of A professor of popular music and media studies.

One significant industry change is the introduction of AI tools like Suno, which generate complete songs at the click of a button. Of 142 respondents who addressed generative AI, 87% viewed the technology negatively.

“There’s an aversion to it. Some see it as not falling into their definition of art,” Fauteux says. “A number of respondents pointed to environmental concerns and ongoing issues with land and water, and problems with the music industry taking those concerns seriously.”

Others said they were “personally and professionally” offended by the existence of generative AI tools for artistic practices, noting that it’s part of an ongoing problem of theft of copyrighted works.

Some artists were concerned that AI could affect their earnings. Generative AI has allowed non-musicians to flood streaming platforms and other music-sharing sites with artificial songs, potentially drowning out authentic artists, Fauteux says.

Though Fauteux thinks the tools are mainly being used by non-musicians who are simply playing around—generating funny songs for social media, for example—he expects AI has already cut into the livelihoods of some musicians, especially those who write background music and jingles for advertisements.

The resentment of AI is likely a signal of a larger issue, he says.

“Musicians felt the shift to streaming about 10 years ago, and haven’t recovered or seen the benefits,” he says. “You throw in the disruption to the live music industry with COVID, and now you have this other variable, AI, that is coming from the big tech world, from people who don’t seem interested in music as an art or a craft.

“It’s not like this fell from the sky and people are mad about it. I think these problems go back to the years of record labels and exploitation, where you have many stories of musicians not being paid properly or having their rights stolen.”

The researchers also asked musicians about their feelings toward social media and the music streaming platform Spotify. Most described a forced, ambivalent relationship—a distrust of these platforms, but also a feeling that they are necessary in the current landscape.

While some respondents had gained listeners by appearing on a popular Spotify playlist, others viewed the service as a barrier to being discovered. Musicians also took issue with Spotify’s low payments, the music industry’s heavy reliance on Spotify metrics to evaluate artists, and the platform’s use of an inscrutable algorithm to serve music to listeners, replacing the sharing of music with friends with cold, hard numbers.

“A theme through a lot of this research is people feeling forced into using the one big service for streaming, or the one big company that books tours, and feeling frustrated by that limited choice,” Fauteux says.

Musicians looking for physical venues to play their songs have also experienced this narrowing of options, according to the survey.

Over the past decade, many venues across the country have shut down, forcing musicians to compete for a shrinking number of spaces to play.

“When thinking about what’s missing in their regions, a lot of people pointed to the fact that there aren’t many small or midsize venues,” Fauteux says. “A lot of these venues are getting booked further and further in advance. So to do things like planning a tour, it’s much more difficult.”

That means the venues that still exist are less willing to take risks on newer artists, he says.

More than ever, the industry is “feeling more like a monopoly,” he says. “Musicians are feeling a loss of control.”

Who’s behind this story?

Swati Mestri

Swati Mestri holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering and has worked as a content editor since 2019. She has experience editing research documents across technology, health care, and materials science, and has a particular interest in technology and space.

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Andrew Zinin

Master’s in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X’s editorial success.

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