AI Won’t Replace Artists — It Will Make Them Unstoppable: Lyor Cohen (Guest Column)

Throughout every moment of my career in the music business, only one thing has been constant: change. We’ve seen it with the shift to digital, with streaming, and now we’re facing it again with generative AI. I hear the same fears we heard then — that a machine is gonna steal the soul of the art. I understand the concern. But let me be straight with you: This thing isn’t here to replace artists. It’s here to help them soar to even higher levels of artistry.

Think of gen AI as the ultimate creative partner. It’s no different from the drum machine that gave hip-hop its signature sound, or the sampler that changed the game. This isn’t just about making things easier; it’s about opening up a new world of creative possibilities. An artist can now create a dozen versions of a record, find the perfect hook, or get the lyrics just right, all while keeping their hands on the wheel of their creative work. 

The question isn’t whether AI will shake things up. That’s already happening. So, the real question we must ask is, “How do we use this technology to make ourselves unstoppable?” Every artist, songwriter and producer has an opportunity right now to channel their creative gifts in new ways — to grab these tools and create something uniquely their own — that lays the foundation for the next 10, 20, 30 years of their careers. That is the opportunity. The goal isn’t to avoid being replaced; it’s to use every tool at your disposal — including gen AI — to elevate this art form and take it to new heights.

And we’re already seeing it — artists and filmmakers are creating jaw-dropping cinematic-quality music videos with the help of these tools. We’re talking legendary artists like Wu-Tang Clan, who created their full-length music video “Mandingo” earlier this year using Google’s Veo — or Teyana Taylor, who created mind-blowing scenes for her new musical short film Escape Room using our filmmaking tool Flow. These are some of the most creative folks in the industry, and they’re running with these tools — they’re not standing on the sidelines.

So, how do we get there? We shift our mindset. Instead of only focusing on what we may lose, we focus on what’s being created. And that’s not to negate the real concern artists have about protecting the integrity of the art. But let’s be clear: While new technology has always brought about disruption, fans have a knack for connecting with authenticity. AI isn’t going to be a replacement for that — artists must continue to bring their true selves to their work, otherwise, fans will see right through it.

I’ve been in this game for 40 years. I’ve seen it all — and as a music guy who loves a good fight, I can tell you every single one of those shifts was scary as hell. But they were also thrilling. And this is no different. The best way forward is to keep an open mind, an open conversation, and a relentless focus on the creative. We’re all in this together, and the future of music is not about protecting the past. It’s about building a better, more creative, and more lucrative future. This is our moment as an industry to seize the opportunity in this shift and lead the way into the next era of music together.

Lyor Cohen is an American music industry executive who has helped shape the evolution of the music business over the course of his career and is currently the global head of music at YouTube and Google.