RIYADH: Artificial intelligence is already making its way into the music studio. The harder question is how far artists are willing to let it go.
That debate is gaining urgency worldwide after Spotify removed more than 75 million AI-generated “spam” tracks from its platform over the past year, exposing the scale of a problem that is forcing the music industry to confront the boundaries between technological assistance, artistic creation and outright replacement.
Spotify is not banning AI-generated music. Its crackdown is aimed at mass-produced content created to manipulate the platform through fake streams, misleading metadata and automated uploads, according to the Los Angeles Times and Rolling Stone.
The platform continues to permit AI-assisted music when creators have the necessary commercial rights and use the technology as part of a legitimate creative process. It has also introduced measures to address abuse, including restrictions on unauthorized AI voice cloning of recognizable artists, systems to detect streaming manipulation and improved metadata standards for AI-generated content.
For Saudi Arabia, where a rapidly expanding music industry is becoming an increasingly important part of the Kingdom’s creative economy, the debate is no longer theoretical.
Artists and industry players are already experimenting with AI in production and education. But while some see it as another tool in the creative arsenal, others fear that relying too heavily on technology could erode the very skills and experiences that give music its identity.
MDLBEAST Records has previously positioned AI as a tool for the early stages of creativity, including generating an initial beat, musical phrase or royalty-cleared sample. The label has also stressed that its use must respect the rights of songwriters and copyright holders.
The Saudi Music Commission has taken a similar exploratory approach through MusiqAI, an initiative launched in late 2024 that uses interactive technology to teach Arab and Western instruments. The program incorporates Saudi sounds and Arab musical heritage while using AI to provide feedback and personalize learning.
As generative AI becomes more sophisticated, artists and rights holders around the world are increasingly questioning how copyrighted music is used to train AI models. (Supplied)
For some musicians, that is where AI makes the most sense: helping artists do more without taking their place.
Saudi-based guitarist Mutasem Abualsalqan, known professionally as Mutscore, believes the technology should remain firmly in a supporting role.
“Writing and composing come from the artist’s feelings,” he said. “AI doesn’t have feelings.”
That does not mean he sees no value in the technology. He said AI can assist with practical tasks such as creating guitar tablature, organizing musical ideas and checking whether a composition unintentionally resembles existing music.
Saudi DJ and producer DJ El Fuego is more receptive to AI, provided it remains subordinate to the artist’s creative identity.
“I support the fair use of AI, as long as it doesn’t interfere with an artist’s creative instincts,” he said.
For independent musicians in particular, he sees a practical advantage. AI can assist with mixing, mastering and audio engineering, potentially giving artists access to capabilities that might otherwise require costly professional services.
“It should help artists develop their skills, not replace them,” he said.
He also sees AI as an educational tool that could help emerging musicians learn professional production techniques while continuing to develop their musicianship.
DID YOU KNOW?
• The Saudi Music Commission launched MusiqAI in late 2024 to support music education through interactive technology.
• Spotify removed more than 75 million AI-generated ‘spam’ tracks from its platform over the past year.
• AI is already being used in music production, mixing, mastering and audio engineering.
• The rise of AI-generated music is raising new questions over copyright, ownership and artistic identity.
Yet that potential comes with a warning.
“If musicians become completely dependent on AI, future generations may gradually lose the ability to play instruments, write songs and compose music themselves,” he said.
For Lurelin, frontman of Saudi death metal band Ataraxiom, there is little room for compromise.
“I am completely anti-generative AI in all art forms, not just music,” he said.
His objection goes beyond the technology itself. For Lurelin, music derives much of its value from the human relationships behind it — musicians exchanging ideas, producers shaping performances and collaborators influencing the final work.
“Some of my greatest works have come from working with other people,” he said. “That is what keeps the work alive.”
He questions whether a machine can produce art that carries the emotional weight of human experience.
“How can you sing the blues if you can’t cry? How can you talk about culture when you never grew up? How can you tell a story when you’ve never lived?”
That question strikes at the heart of the wider debate: whether AI can reproduce the sound of human creativity without possessing the experiences that make that creativity meaningful.
For Lurelin, the boundary is much clearer. “I am completely anti-generative AI in all art forms, not just music,” he said. (Supplied)
In Saudi Arabia, Lurelin believes the growth of the Kingdom’s music infrastructure gives emerging artists another path — one built around collaboration, performance and developing individual voices rather than turning to AI-generated work.
But the debate does not stop at creativity.
As generative AI becomes more sophisticated, artists and rights holders around the world are increasingly questioning how copyrighted music is used to train AI models, whether creators have given their consent and who should be compensated when their work contributes to machine-generated output.
Even Spotify has faced criticism over its use of AI. Singer-songwriter Lorde objected to the platform’s AI-powered “About the Song” feature after it generated an inaccurate interpretation of one of her songs. Spotify said the feature remains in beta and that errors are corrected when identified.
For Saudi Arabia’s emerging music industry, then, the question is no longer whether AI will enter the studio. It already has.
The more consequential question is what artists will allow it to do once it gets there.
Production, education and technical support may prove easier areas for acceptance. Questions of authorship, ownership, identity and creative expression are likely to be far more contested.
And as machines become increasingly capable of producing music that sounds human, Saudi artists are being forced to consider what they believe cannot — or should not — be automated: the emotion behind a song, the experience behind a story, the collaboration behind a performance and the identity of the person who created it.
