When I started writing my book, Survival of the Artist, the everyday home use of A.I. wasn’t really a thing. Now creatives and “regular” people have a host of options to use. The king that kicked it off was ChatGPT. Now there’s GoogleBard and writing programs like ChatSonic, Grammarly, among others. By the time you read this, there may be many more.
One of the most amazing things about A.I. language models is they can very quickly solve your problems and do things you don’t know how to do. I use them all the time as well. I wish A.I. writing was around when I started crafting this book.
When playing around with ChatGPT, I asked for an outline of a book about the importance of social media for an artist. It provided some terrific information, some of which was already in my book and some I didn’t. It wasn’t enough to write the whole book, but it provided an excellent idea for an outline. What it lacked was my personal touch, tone, and life experience. Those things can’t be replicated.
So how can you use A.I. to your benefit?
1. Create Marketing Plans
Having a marketing plan for a music release is crucial as it helps to create awareness, generate anticipation, and maximize the reach of your music. It allows artists to strategically engage with their audience, build excitement, and increase their chances of success by ensuring that efforts are coordinated and targeted effectively. But for many artists, creating their marketing plan is the biggest challenge. A simple prompt in an A.I. tool can provide the artist with an outline to follow or spark ideas to build around.
2. Write Social Media Copy
Social media has become a vital tool for artists. Creating copy can be draining. When your brain needs a break, A.I. can give you the basic structure. You’ll just need to personalize it to match your brand, voice, and audience.
3. Write Press Releases
Writing large professional documents like a press release or project proposal can seem incredibly daunting. Sometimes, all you need is a starting point to edit from. A.I. is a tool to fill the blank page, which is sometimes all you need to set things in motion.
4. Create Unique Imagery
Stock images are boring. Great graphic design takes time and money. Sometimes you just need something quick. A.I. image models with Canva or MidJourney can help create images for you.
5. Utilize Music and Voice A.I.
Have you heard the Beach Boys singing Flo-Rida or Taylor Swift rapping Snoop Dogg? We can have A.I. models create music in the style of any artist using someone else’s lyrics or even yours. Now all of a sudden, your song features Kanye West. It would be highly frowned upon to create music this way in anything other than a parody or experiment. However, there are already instances of A.I. artists and songs. It’s a slippery slope of and full of legal issues.
Instead, maybe look for ways A.I. can enhance your music or help you create chords or key changes. Maybe you need help hitting a harmony, go for that. Don’t make that high harmony sung by Michael Jackson.
There are a great resources out there. Obviously, don’t rely on them for everything. You still need to tweak, adjust, and breathe some life back into it. You still need to know how to do each of these things on your own.
Use it for mundane daily tasks and learning while you save up the cash to hire a professional for bigger asks. Let the A.I. help enhance what you’re doing, not replace it.
This article is an adapted excerpt from Justin Sarachik’s book, Survival of the Artist. If you found this information helpful, find his book on Amazon for more tips and strategies to help indie artists succeed.
