Bob Dylan and the Future of (AI-generated) Music

[godofwealth]

The official rite of passage of summer has just passed -- The Fourth of July here in the US -- and summer is always a great time to catch up on some reading. I have accumulated a stash of music-related books, one of which is an absolutely amazing drop-dead gorgeous volume on the production of each and every Bob Dylan album. It is chockfull of great pictures and anecdotes, including from John Hammond, Dylan's longtime producer at CBS. Hammond was an amazing talent scout for Columbia Records, despite being immensely wealthy -- his grandfather was Vanderbilt. He chose instead to find hidden musical talent, and for several decades, brought an amazing star-studded group of musicians into the repertoire of artists for Columbia. Here's the book. It is available on Amazon, and for any Dylan lover, it's a real treat. I found it helpful to hear each album as I read through the back story of how it got made. Dylan's genius for songwriting is explained (or as best as anyone can explain how a creative genius works) by giving the context. His famous song Masters of War, for example, was written at the height of the Cuban Missile crisis, and there's a great picture of Dylan reading a newspaper catching up on world events. He was very tuned to what was going on in the world, and giving his perspective through his songs.



That was 60 years ago! Seems like we now have entered a brave new world of AI-generated musicians. The Washington Post just reported on a AI-generated fictitious band that generated millions of recommendations on Spotify, till it was discovered the band didn't exist -- it was completely AI generated, down to the images of the musicians. Is AI generated music the way of our future? Where will the next Bob Dylans come from? I shudder at the prospect!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/07/08/velvet-sundown-artificial-intelligence-spotify/

 

[ssfas]

I suspect music created using artificial intelligence is going to be better than music created with no intelligence at all.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I suspect music created using artificial intelligence is going to be better than music created with no intelligence at all.

If only there was a bitch slap emoji.

 

[ssfas]

If only there was a bitch slap emoji.

I was listening/reading last night to some recordings from a set by the Soundwalk Collective. Sometimes intellectualism is overrated.

Discography - Soundwalk Collective

soundwalkcollective.com

That said, here's one for @godofwealth to give him mental indigestion. Did you know, for example, that Dylan and Lennon shared an innate cognitive bias towards promiscuous teleology? Notwithstanding Dylan's tropes were Abrahamic and Lennon's Vedic, neither inhabited the sh!tty old world the rest of us occupy.

p.s. I wan't meaning to be rude or offensive. Maybe it comes naturally. Note to self ... behave.

 

[ssfas]

The official rite of passage of summer has just passed -- The Fourth of July here in the US -- and summer is always a great time to catch up on some reading. I have accumulated a stash of music-related books, one of which is an absolutely amazing drop-dead gorgeous volume on the production of each and every Bob Dylan album. It is chockfull of great pictures and anecdotes, including from John Hammond, Dylan's longtime producer at CBS. Hammond was an amazing talent scout for Columbia Records, despite being immensely wealthy -- his grandfather was Vanderbilt. He chose instead to find hidden musical talent, and for several decades, brought an amazing star-studded group of musicians into the repertoire of artists for Columbia. Here's the book. It is available on Amazon, and for any Dylan lover, it's a real treat. I found it helpful to hear each album as I read through the back story of how it got made. Dylan's genius for songwriting is explained (or as best as anyone can explain how a creative genius works) by giving the context. His famous song Masters of War, for example, was written at the height of the Cuban Missile crisis, and there's a great picture of Dylan reading a newspaper catching up on world events. He was very tuned to what was going on in the world, and giving his perspective through his songs.


That was 60 years ago! Seems like we now have entered a brave new world of AI-generated musicians. The Washington Post just reported on a AI-generated fictitious band that generated millions of recommendations on Spotify, till it was discovered the band didn't exist -- it was completely AI generated, down to the images of the musicians. Is AI generated music the way of our future? Where will the next Bob Dylans come from? I shudder at the prospect!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/07/08/velvet-sundown-artificial-intelligence-spotify/

Incidentally, Masters of War was not written in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was written as a polemic against politicians in response to Eisenhower's farewell address justifying unfettered militarism. This was over a year before the Cuba business. See here:

President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961)

EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Farewell address by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961; Final TV Talk 1/17/61 (1), Box 38, Speech Series, Papers of Dwight D.

www.archives.gov

It's in the lyrics, in fact the title (the President being the Commander in Chief):

Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks

He justifies his opinion based on Christian morality, theology being a pervading theme in Dylan songs.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Not the biggest fan of Lennon and Dylan (prefer Neil Peart and Jon Anderson).
But I have to agree, intellectualism is hugely overrated, based on the state of the world as "benefitted" by the intellectual caste.