r/musicians

Since the start of 2026, the music world has changed
AI Music has now made up at least 28% up to 40% of daily uploads onto these platforms, and a decent chunk belongs to people pushing out AI music solely for profit over any form of creativity
 
With the addition of Spotify "carefully" labeling real musicians who do not use AI Generation, their requirements have left many musicians who don’t use any AI Generation and just below this requirement in the dust.

 
I feel that two additions to both of these platforms will let users / listeners who use these music platforms daily be able to fully understand in a complete transparent way on WHO they are listening to and WHAT they are listening to.
 
If there is enough evidence to show that the artist on this platform is AI Generated and not a real-life musician, it should have an "May Contain AI Generation" label on the artist profile itself, similar to how Spotify now has "Verified By Spotify" so the listener understands that the person behind the songs they are listening to with full transparency.
If there is enough evidence to show that the song on this platform is AI Generated, it should be listed next to the artist name on these platforms with "May Contain AI Generation", so if a listener finds the song on a "Mix" or a "Radio" they are listening to, they are able to view that the song could have AI Generation involved with it.
Considering that both of these platforms have allowed AI Generated Music to be put on the platform and have started to implement a crude method to verify musicians who don’t use AI at all, we need to at least have full transparency that the track was either made by a real human or made by an AI or an Hybrid AI/Human track

Idk if any of you have heard that phrase or some variant of it. But basically it describes this attitude I’ve encountered sometimes where anything pop or pop adjacent is considered juvenile garbage basically off rip.

I’m in a local scene that’s very rock, metal, punk, and jazz focused or atleast it comes off that way to me.

I stand in an interesting spot because I don’t really think about genre much when I make music. I just happen to have a knack for alternative pop with psychedelic elements.

I tend to get good praise from the dudes in the scene that I notice normally shit on pop music publicly atleast sometimes. I usually dread some of those guys showing up out of fear of embarrassing myself to the scene. But I get really surprised.

Idk, that’s just my experience with that sentiment. What are your thoughts? Does your scene have a similar vibe?

Also, to be clear. It doesn’t bother me or get in my way. I was just thinking about it I guess

There are murmurs of a resurgence in rock and rock-adjacent music. Which city is ready to be the "next Seattle," so to speak? Which cities are not ready?

Does your city have a unique sound that a scene can coalesce? Is there strong support for the independent venues? Are people eager to hear bands they've never heard?

I landed a custom songwriting job but they won’t add me into the algorithm until I find my first commission by myself. Problem is, my followers are all young students who can’t afford to drop $179 on a song. Any advice as to how to find people for this type of thing?

I feel like there’s a lot people don’t see unless they’re actually doing it.

Me and a couple of friends are gonna start a band and me and my best friend (who created the band alongside me) named it last night and I wanna see if it's too long.

We decided to name it Hollow Trendkiller and we got our name from two of our favorite bands, Pantera and Alice in Chains, we've been stumped for months and we finally got it figured out but I wanted to ask what other people thought about it.

Edit: Me and him discussed it just a wee bit more, we're thinking of going just one word, one idea he came up with was Skribbl, another was Repulsive, and the last was Hated. I looked on Metallum and Skribbl wasn't listed, so I would like to ask some of you what you think about Skribbl?

Hey! I have been growing a pretty strong following on a singing channel on all the platforms, mainly TikTok and IG. My content is mostly based around entirely raw vocal covers that do not feature any equipment or editing.

Since the beginning of the year, I've gathered close to 4k followers and well over 1m views across all platforms and have gotten comments, likes, and shares from some very big names. This is not meant to toot my horn, just to tell you where I'm at.

For musicians who make a living online, do you think it's too soon for me to offer a Patreon/Buy Me a Coffee? I've been asked to give voice lessons which I dont generally do but so far people have seemed to really resonate with my lesson videos I've made. While I'm not formally a voice coach, this is what I'm thinking.

SUPPORT TIER for just a few bucks if anyone wants to show their support. I get a lot of requests for covers, so I could offer prioritized requests and maybe some exclusive videos.

MID TIER where I could offer something like exclusive acoustic covers for members and a few exclusive short-form voice lesson videos.

HIGH TIER including the benefits of the other two tiers with an option for members to vote on monthly lesson video focuses on particular singers or artists

Of course these would have to be built out more, but I'm curious! I've been hard at work growing this channel and have literally been asked for things like lessons and custom covers, so I feel like I might be able to do something here.

Should I give it some time or just pull the trigger? Thanks! 😄

Got this fun jamband/psychedelic playlist I’m building, started with bands from my local scene (including my band) and found some more great stuff from Reddit. The goal here is to have a fun playlist we can all share and discover some other similar unknown artists. I listen to EVERY submission (Spotify only) and if your song fits the vibe it gets added! Be sure to save and stream the list and help some small artists grow!

I work at a streaming service company, and noticed a trend of pop-centric female lead bands or artists shifting towards more rock music starting from end of last year to present. Sometimes these pop artists also brush against metal.

Reminds me of the era with Alanis Morissette, No Doubt, and Garbage gaining momentum given the popularity of Grunge music and also when the music scene was primarily dominated by Madonna/Gloria Estefan-like pop artists.

Maybe it's just a blip and not a trend. But curious what y'all think

Yeah so today was pretty mad. I got a message from some good friends of mine, I used to run an open mic night in an old world war 2 telecoms bunker that they own. We made some really great memories together and spent a good few years running some awesome events there. The message said they had received a load of music gear that they need to pass on/donate and they wanted it to go to me.

A local lady and her husband used to play as a duo, i didn't know them, but the husband recently died and this local lady wanted their gear to go to another local musician that would use it. My friends had been passed the gear to use, but they did not feel it was right to keep it as they aren't really musicians, despite running the open mic with me at their place for a couple of years. They felt it wasn't theirs and they needed to pass it on to someone it'll have a true home with. I've been performing most of my adult life, but my early years and where I learnt my craft was at their place, at the open mics I was running.

The gear was pretty insain to recieve. A full Bose L1 system virtually brand new, with the B1 bass module, a flight case with a 4 channel mixer, a flight case with 2 x SM58s and a mic mixer thing, and 2 boxes full of leads, tambourines and percussive stuff, and pedals. The pedals were an old aria head rush looper, and some behringer ones I unfortunately wont have much use for.

I had my usual pedal board in the car, and so I had to run and grab it as we set up this PA and got out one of my mates guitars. I didn't have my lead bag, therefore I didn't have my power pack for my pedal board. I used one my friend had and thought it was the right voltage... wrong - instant burning smell.

Luckily it spared my pedals, but my mxr mini iso brick is fried. But to be honest, nothing can kill my buzz from recieving such an incredible haul of gear from a stranger in such good faith and in memory of their partner. It will absolutely be used and loved for many years to come. I hear the lady may be attending my next gig in the village this coming Monday, I hope she does!

i dont really want to get a singing teacher for singing and i dont find the videos on how to sing very helpful.

How long in a recording studio (not including mixing and mastering) would you expect would be needed to record a 5 song EP (the songs are indie genre-wise and roughly about 3 mins long)?

I'm trying to work out a budget and plan for sorting out practice sessions and recording the EP but as I'm not very experienced I have no idea how long it would take.

The band would consist of drums, guitar, bass and vocals if that helps at all.

Per Member Stage Rate example
Gig Pay ($500) divided by Stage Time (4 Hours) divided by Band Members (4) = $31.25

(Band Members would be 1 for solo performers)

What kind of group? Where are you from?

A. $0 - $50
B. $51 - $100
C. $101 - $150
D. $151 - $200
E. $201 - $300
F. $301 - $400
G. $401 - $500
H. $500+

I have music i want to share but any name i think of is already taken on Spotify. Is there a place where we check if the name is available? My own name has three artist profiles.