For the last couple of months, we at The Progressive Subway have begun to include an artist credit caption for the album art in reviews where possible, a change which, if anything, was long overdue. However, not all bands credit the album artist in an obvious place or at all, which makes that task all the more difficult. In an age where anyone can procedurally generate soulless A.I. art, it’s now more vital than ever that we all do what we can to recognise and honour the work of real artists.
There are already unscrupulous people out there generating A.I. music and attempting to pass it off as the real thing—trawl through new releases on Bandcamp and you’ll soon find some. As the technology becomes more and more sophisticated, fake musicians will have an easier time taking the place of real musicians, just as A.I. art is beginning to jeopardise the livelihoods of real artists. Of course, we understand that commissioning or licensing an artwork can be prohibitively expensive for small artists, and that A.I. is a convenient tool for the cash-strapped musician, but all artists need to support one another together. After all, there’s more integrity to be had in a bad album cover that’s real than a good one that’s fake. That’s not to say there isn’t an argument for A.I. to be utilised as a tool in the same way one might use editing software, but to completely hand over the job of art creation to an algorithm is a fundamentally anti-artistic act.
Other options are available to musicians: you could take a photo and play around with some editing software like i Häxa did; the latest Kyros EP comes emblazoned with a still from a (charmingly low budget) music video; Múr’s debut was adorned with a band photo; and Avernus used the 1878 painting “Anguish” by August Friedrich Albrecht, which is public domain due to its age and therefore wouldn’t require licensing. These are just examples, and I’m sure not every artist has access to the tools that these artists had, but the point is that there are always contingencies if you’re creative.
But, more importantly, don’t worry about the album art too much—have you seen the average black metal album’s art? You too can take a low-res photo of a nearby forest on a foggy day! The quality of the music is always paramount, and many of us adore albums that come emblazoned with bad art. None of this matters so much that you ever need to turn your hands to a technology that is accelerating the damage done to the environment and training machines to take people’s jobs. So that’s our plea: for creators to be creative and to support their fellow creators. Avoid A.I. art and credit the artists you work with so we in turn can credit them too; together, artists, musicians, and reviewers can foster an environment that cares for and about real art. In January, we’ll be putting together a post featuring our favourite album covers and, sure, not everyone will make the cut (there’s only ten spots so not many at all will!) but guess what? A.I. art absolutely won’t make the cut.
Keep enjoying real music and real art.
The Progressive Subway.
