Who Wins and Who Loses

For content creators, advertisers, and indie game developers, AI music is a liberation. Custom background tracks that once cost hundreds or thousands of dollars can now be generated for free in minutes. Podcast intros, YouTube videos, and social media content all benefit from cheap, royalty-free music on demand.

For working musicians — session players, jingle writers, stock-music composers — the disruption is existential. The market for functional background music is being automated fastest.