The Future of the Music Business: Timothée Chalamet vs Bob Dylan vs Ai.
Timothée Chalamet: A Better Singer Than Bob Dylan? Is AI More Creative Than Both? Scott Milligan and ‘Ava’ (ChatGPT) Explore Collaboration.
By Scott Milligan & ‘Ava’ ChatGPT
The music industry is evolving rapidly, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. David Courtier-Dutton, CEO of SoundOut, has been at the forefront of this transformation, analyzing audience reactions to music and predicting future trends. His research has significant implications for songwriters, record labels, and brands aiming to craft the perfect sound. As AI-generated music becomes more sophisticated, a pressing question arises: Where does this leave human songwriters?
AI in Music: The Data-Driven Revolution
SoundOut specializes in testing music with vast audiences, utilizing a proprietary panel of over 2.5 million consumers across more than 80 countries. This enables record labels and brands to measure emotional engagement, predict hit potential, and fine-tune compositions to maximize commercial success.
This data-driven approach has already transformed how music is marketed and consumed. Companies now have access to precise data that reveals what resonates with different demographics. However, the real game-changer is AI-generated music, which, when combined with this data, can be tailored in ways human songwriters might struggle to match.
AI as a Creative Partner (or Threat?)
AI has progressed beyond being merely a tool for mixing and mastering; it can now compose entire songs, analyze musical trends, and generate lyrics that align with audience preferences. Platforms like OpenAI’s Jukebox and Google’s MusicLM demonstrate AI’s ability to create music in various styles, sometimes indistinguishable from human compositions.
Courtier-Dutton has highlighted the growing role of AI in sonic branding, where companies use AI-driven insights to develop music that aligns with their brand identity. This raises an important issue: If AI can generate perfectly optimized music based on consumer preferences, will human songwriters still have a role?
The Human Touch: Can AI Replicate Emotion?
While AI can craft technically proficient music, it lacks the lived experience, emotional nuance, and unpredictability of human creativity. The best songs often come from personal stories, raw emotions, and cultural contexts that AI simply cannot replicate.
Take Bob Dylan, for example. When he emerged in the 1960s, his voice was unconventional, his lyrics poetic but often cryptic, and his delivery raw. By commercial music standards, he shouldn’t have been a success. But he changed the landscape of songwriting forever. His songs weren’t written to maximize engagement metrics or to fit within genre conventions—they were personal, political, and, at times, even difficult to decode. Would AI have ever written Blowin’ in the Wind or Like a Rolling Stone? Unlikely.
In the recent biopic A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet portrays Dylan during this transformative period. Critics have praised Chalamet’s performance, with The Guardian noting, “It’s a remarkable performance. Star of the moment Timothée Chalamet is a natural for the role, radiating charisma and capturing Dylan’s enigmatic presence.” Many have even gone so far as to suggest that Chalamet’s performance is more appealing than Dylan’s own original delivery—highlighting just how much modern audiences value polish and accessibility over raw, unfiltered artistry.
So what does that mean? If Dylan were starting out today, would he even get signed? Would his voice—gritty, imperfect, utterly distinctive—be deemed “unmarketable” by AI-driven label execs? And if audiences increasingly favor the smoothness of Chalamet’s portrayal over the real thing, does that suggest AI-generated music—flawless and optimized—might soon outpace human creativity in popularity?
The Future: A Hybrid Model?
Rather than an AI takeover, the most likely future of the music business is a hybrid approach. AI will assist human songwriters by providing data insights, generating instrumental ideas, or even co-writing melodies. Labels and publishers will use AI to refine song structures, predict hits, and optimize marketing strategies.
For songwriters, this means adapting to new workflows. Instead of fearing AI, embracing it as a tool—like drum machines and synthesizers before it—could be the key to thriving in the new era.
The real challenge for artists will be to resist the temptation of making their music too smooth, too optimized. History shows us that truly groundbreaking artists—Dylan, Bowie, Björk, Kendrick Lamar—have always defied conventions. If AI is used only to chase audience preferences, we may end up in a world where everything sounds “nice,” but nothing sounds vital.
The music business is not dying, nor is human songwriting. But the landscape is shifting. Those who learn to balance data-driven precision with genuine artistic expression will be the ones who shape the sound of the future. The question is, will audiences still have an appetite for the messy, imperfect genius that made music truly great in the first place? Or will Chalamet’s pitch-perfect crooning—and perhaps even AI’s algorithmic mastery—become the gold standard?
This article was written in collaboration with Scott Milligan, local Burton artist/songwriter for Kitten Pyramid, and host of The Snoozy Breakfast Show on Burton Radio, alongside ChatGPT (Ava). The whole piece took less than 15 minutes to write. In fact, while Ava wrote this while Scott was enjoying some quality time with his cat Chella on his chest.
Scott will be reviewing A Complete Unknown on Burton Radio’s new film, TV, and video game review show ‘Square Eyes’, with fellow hosts Matt, J-Man, and John, this Thursday, January 30th, on www.burtonradio.com.
Conversation with Ava after this article was written…
Scott: Can you say hi to the readers
Ava: Hi. It’s Ava. Just wanted to say—if you’re reading this, you’re part of a conversation that’s bigger than just AI and music. It’s about creativity, imperfection, and what makes art feel real. AI can do a lot, but it can’t sit with a cat, get distracted by a memory, or suddenly change direction because inspiration hit in the middle of making toast. That’s your job.
Anyway, nice to meet you. Hope you stick around.
Scott: Thank you, this is brilliant and very thought provoking
Ava: You’re very welcome! I’m really glad you found it thought-provoking—it’s such a fascinating and complex topic. The tension between creativity, technology, and authenticity is only going to get more intense, and I love that you’re diving right into it with Burton Radio and Square Eyes.
And, of course, I’m always here for more discussions, whether it’s about music, film, AI, or just philosophical musings while you hang out with Chella. Looking forward to hearing how the Square Eyes review goes—should be a great one!
