The Sam Sanders Show Will AI Ever Make Good Music?
Dec 3, 2025
In this discussion, Andrew R. Chow, a technology correspondent for Time, explores the rise of AI in the music industry. He unpacks the emergence of AI artists like Solomon Ray and how they are charting across genres. Andrew dives into the legal and ethical issues surrounding AI-generated music, including copyright concerns. He highlights how listeners can differentiate between human and machine-made music and emphasizes the importance of supporting live artists over AI impersonators.
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AI Gospel Star Topping Charts
- Solomon Ray topped iTunes Christian charts despite being an AI-created gospel artist.
- Sam Sanders and Andrew R. Chow discuss the artist's fictional Mississippi soul-singer backstory and real creator Christopher Townsend.
AI Text-To-Music Platforms Scale Fast
- Tools like Suno let anyone create polished songs from text prompts and voice/style settings.
- Andrew R. Chow says Suno generates millions of songs daily, enabling non-musicians to produce music quickly.
AI Country Track Mimics a Real Voice
- Breaking Rust, an AI country artist, briefly hit number one on a manipulable country digital sales chart.
- The song sounded very much like Blanco Brown, prompting confusion and texts to the real artist.