AudioCraft Threatens Revenue Streams

As reported last week, Meta have launched AudioCraft, a free generative AI text-to-audio and music tool.

The following is Meta’s official pitch for the AI tool: “Imagine a professional musician being able to explore new compositions without having to play a single note on an instrument. Or a small business owner adding a soundtrack to their latest video ad on Instagram with ease. That’s the promise of AudioCraft –  our latest AI tool that generates high-quality, realistic audio and music from text.”

You can find more from Meta on AudioCraft here.

Though Meta is not the only company with music AI tools, Audiocrafts functionality raises some very concerning points on the inevitable decline in soundtrack work, tracks sold to stock music libraries, and sync placements in general. 

Each of these has become an increasingly important source of revenue for musicians struggling to survive in the age of streaming. AI seems to be upending these opportunities relatively quickly though, and with its naturally fast evolving form, who knows what other opportunities independent labels and musicians will be losing out on in the coming years.