The use of AI in songwriting is marching forward, and that includes in Nashville, where human connection and the idea of “three chords and the truth” have always been part of the fabric of country songs. Breland, the songwriter and singer behind hits like “My Truck,” says the technology has gotten out of hand. And he’s adamant that listeners should be aware of exactly what they’re listening to.
“People should know whether what they’re listening to is a human voice or not. You should be required to say that,” Breland says in a new interview on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast.
He’s worried that human artists are being erased by the technology, which uses vast environmental resources to operate.
“AI is out of control. If you’re trying to solve global crises and you’re using AI to do that, I’m sure we could probably justify it. Anything else, we’re just tearing the planet apart,” he says. “When it comes to AI and music, to me, music is such an innately human experience… So, if we’re going to take something that humans have been doing exclusively for tens of thousands of years, and is as integral as it is… how on earth would we be comfortable with that process being automated, and taking the humanity out of it?”
But Breland isn’t just criticizing AI usage. He’s offering a way to use it responsibly.
“My proposal is this: One, I think that AI songs should be labeled as such. And secondly, I think that the revenue from AI songs should go toward grants and scholarships for up-and-coming creatives,” he says. “You’re going to make money off of something that you didn’t do? You’re not a songwriter, so if you’re not a songwriter, and you’re not a producer and you’re not an artist, then I don’t think that you should be entitled to publishing on a song.
“And if whoever it is that’s putting that song out isn’t human and can’t actually make any of that money itself,” he continues, “that money should be sprinkled to actual people who want to do something good with it.”
During his Nashville Now episode, Breland weighs in on other hot-button issues in country music, including diversity in Nashville and Keith Urban’s decision to perform a private concert at Mar-a-Lago. Watch the full episode below.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by senior music editor Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Lainey Wilson, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Kings of Leon, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Ink, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Clever.
