Striking a Chord: The Viability of AI-generated Pop Music Among Generation Z
Abstract
The emergence of generative AI in the music industry has presented new possibilities but also raises questions regarding its reception and competitiveness with human-produced music. Thus, this study explores Generation Z’s perception of AI generated pop music created by Udio, an AI model utilizing Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), in comparison to human produced pop music on the basis of five key attributes: creativity, emotion, authenticity, replay value, and overall rating. Results show an overall preference for the human-produced sample, specifically for creativity, emotion, replay value, and overall rating. Qualitative data corroborated this pattern, indicating recurring concerns with dissonance, genericness, and balanced composition within the AI-generated sample, while the human-produced sample was recognized for its overall design and variability. While some participants recognized the innovative abilities of AI in music production, a majority expressed ethical concern for traditional musicians and the lack of emotional translation and creativity. The results of this study demonstrate that current AI-generated pop music generated through AI utilizing GANs does not yet rival human produced pop music among a Generation Z audience.
Keywords: Computational creativity, generative-AI, AI-music generators, uncanny valley, human-produced music, competition, Udio, reception to AI-generated music, Generation Z.
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