It's no secret that Artificial Intelligence has been slowly infiltrating its methods into the music industry. What began as Taylor Swift singing covers of Kanye songs has gradually transitioned to be one of the top ways streaming services (aka Spotify) analyze user data. Regardless of how you feel about artificial intelligence, it's fast, it's efficient, and it's not half bad. Ethical in terms of creative use in the music industry? Now, that's a different argument.
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The problem with artificial intelligence is that it's become so advanced, you might not even notice when it's right under your nose. That would be the case for listeners of Breaking Rust, a roots-based band that's charting on the Country Digital Song Sales chart right now.
Not only does the band boast nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, but they also technically don't even exist. This is because Breaking Rust was actually created by AI, by a man whose name might be Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor. We're still figuring that part out.
Currently, Breaking Rust has a No. 1 on the Country Digital Songs Chart with a song titled "Walk My Walk". Apparently, though, that's not even their most popular track. The band also has songs like "Livin' on Borrowed Time" and "Whiskey don't talk back", each boasting millions of streams.
Who Is Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor?
If you look under songs from the group on Spotify in the "Credits" section, a man by the name of Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor is credited as a composer and lyricist. If you look up Taylor on Facebook, you will find that he is a real person, but his only notable personality trait is his association with the group Breaking Rust.
While digging a little further into Taylor's creative past, you'll find that he also has credits on a song from the Defbeatsai YouTube channel, which features some country songs as well. However, the difference is that these contain more explicit themes. Currently, most of his creative ambitions are tied to Breaking Rust, which has only recently begun releasing music.
Breaking Rust has only been putting out music since October 11 of this year, when "Whiskey don't talk back" came out. Since then, they've also released four other singles and a five-song EP, with the latest release occurring just yesterday. Although it's harder to tell by their Spotify, their Instagram account, under the handle @breakinrust, has over 30,000 followers and is filled with videos that AI clearly generates. The group is aiming for an Outlaw cowboy aesthetic, as many of the posts feature similar rustic themes. Check one of them out below.
You might not be supportive of the use of Artificial Intelligence in music. But you've gotta admit, it's pretty impressive that a guy like Taylor can craft a chart topping single in the safety of his own home. Not only that, but also a whole image and persona along with it. The question then becomes though, who is it that really gets credit for the songs under Breaking Rust's name? Is it Taylor, or the technology machine that seems to be behind at all?
Photo By: Breaking Rust
