If AI replaces musicians, does the entire plugin industry die with them?

Explore how Machine Learning and AI can expand musical creativity while keeping the human in the creative workflow. This forum is dedicated to respectful dialogue where diverse perspectives are welcomed.
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@ do you really think I ever used or had a social media account? Am I stupid to share my life with the world? haha
There are not many things I enjoy more than peace, privacy and silence,

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DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 8:05 pm @ do you really think I ever used or had a social media account? Am I stupid to share my life with the world? haha
you share what you are programmed to share :borg:
:ud:

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I have also generally noticed something here on Kvr, hard to explain (but ai must be involved!), could someone post that he dislikes WAVES plugins to demonstrate?
But you really have to dislike them and you have to post it to me and please be aware of the fact I really like Waves plugins, so you can't tell I haven't warned you!

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DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 8:05 pm @ do you really think I ever used or had a social media account? Am I stupid to share my life with the world? haha
There are not many things I enjoy more than peace, privacy and silence,
Yes, you do, KVR is social media. You might want to be less confident about what the machine knows about you.

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DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 7:13 pm "a session musician to play a part in a track that he/she can't play?"
A hired session musician is supposed to be able to play what he is hired for.
I mean you wouldn't hire a classical pianist for a jazz session. Back in the day for instance James Jamerson played as a session bassist for Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes and many more.

Marvin Gaye – "What's Going On" (1971): Widely considered his masterpiece, played while lying on his back.
The Temptations – "My Girl" (1964): An iconic, melodic walking bassline.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1967): Features a syncopated, driving line.
The Four Tops – "Bernadette" (1967): Known for its complex, intense, and driving rhythm.
Marvin Gaye – "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968): A dark, intense, and highly influential line.
The Supremes – "You Can't Hurry Love" (1966): A perfectly crafted, driving Motown pop line.
Stevie Wonder – "I Was Made to Love Her" (1967): A fast-paced, melodic masterpiece.
The Miracles – "Going to a Go-Go" (1965): A prime example of his pocket playing.
Martha and the Vandellas – "Dancing in the Street" (1964): Features a distinctive, high-energy bassline.
Jr. Walker & The All Stars – "Shotgun" (1965): A straightforward yet heavy, driving blues-soul line.

Especially What's going on was something completely different and James mastered the challenge with flying colors. A session musician who can't play?

Toto were session musicians and they played the whole Thriller album, Eddie van Halen even played the Beat it guitar solo for free.

Billy Preston was a top session musician in the 1960s/70s, he recorded with Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and the Rolling Stones and many more
He played electric piano on Get back (The Beatles), If you want me to stay (Sly Stone) etc.

Stevie Winwood played for Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, and Tina Turner etc. as a session musician.
Organ on Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile.

Tina Turner provided backing vocals on several tracks on Frank Zappa’s 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation and the 1974 album Apostrophe, two of Zappa's best albums.

The list is endless...
Perhaps the way I explained it wasn't very clear, or perhaps I'm missing your point. The point I was making was that within the music industry it's not unheard of for a producer or an artist to hire session musicians to lay down parts in a track....parts that the artist or a producer can't play themselves. E.g. a trumpet or a violin or guitar solo.... and that in my opinion, (apart from the financial impact on said session musicians) as long as the results are good, using Ai to do this is not really any different

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grandmasterbird wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:12 pm
DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 7:13 pm "a session musician to play a part in a track that he/she can't play?"
A hired session musician is supposed to be able to play what he is hired for.
I mean you wouldn't hire a classical pianist for a jazz session. Back in the day for instance James Jamerson played as a session bassist for Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes and many more.

Marvin Gaye – "What's Going On" (1971): Widely considered his masterpiece, played while lying on his back.
The Temptations – "My Girl" (1964): An iconic, melodic walking bassline.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1967): Features a syncopated, driving line.
The Four Tops – "Bernadette" (1967): Known for its complex, intense, and driving rhythm.
Marvin Gaye – "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968): A dark, intense, and highly influential line.
The Supremes – "You Can't Hurry Love" (1966): A perfectly crafted, driving Motown pop line.
Stevie Wonder – "I Was Made to Love Her" (1967): A fast-paced, melodic masterpiece.
The Miracles – "Going to a Go-Go" (1965): A prime example of his pocket playing.
Martha and the Vandellas – "Dancing in the Street" (1964): Features a distinctive, high-energy bassline.
Jr. Walker & The All Stars – "Shotgun" (1965): A straightforward yet heavy, driving blues-soul line.

Especially What's going on was something completely different and James mastered the challenge with flying colors. A session musician who can't play?

Toto were session musicians and they played the whole Thriller album, Eddie van Halen even played the Beat it guitar solo for free.

Billy Preston was a top session musician in the 1960s/70s, he recorded with Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and the Rolling Stones and many more
He played electric piano on Get back (The Beatles), If you want me to stay (Sly Stone) etc.

Stevie Winwood played for Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, and Tina Turner etc. as a session musician.
Organ on Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile.

Tina Turner provided backing vocals on several tracks on Frank Zappa’s 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation and the 1974 album Apostrophe, two of Zappa's best albums.

The list is endless...
Perhaps the way I explained it wasn't very clear, or perhaps I'm missing your point. The point I was making was that within the music industry it's not unheard of for a producer or an artist to hire session musicians to lay down parts in a track....parts that the artist or a producer can't play themselves. E.g. a trumpet or a violin or guitar solo.... and that in my opinion, (apart from the financial impact on said session musicians) as long as the results are good, using Ai to do this is not really any different
Except it will never have the soul of James Jameson, Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine, etc.

AI is never going to make a mistake and create the intro to Be My Baby.

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Bunny_boy wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:18 pm
grandmasterbird wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:12 pm
DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 7:13 pm "a session musician to play a part in a track that he/she can't play?"
A hired session musician is supposed to be able to play what he is hired for.
I mean you wouldn't hire a classical pianist for a jazz session. Back in the day for instance James Jamerson played as a session bassist for Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes and many more.

Marvin Gaye – "What's Going On" (1971): Widely considered his masterpiece, played while lying on his back.
The Temptations – "My Girl" (1964): An iconic, melodic walking bassline.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1967): Features a syncopated, driving line.
The Four Tops – "Bernadette" (1967): Known for its complex, intense, and driving rhythm.
Marvin Gaye – "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (1968): A dark, intense, and highly influential line.
The Supremes – "You Can't Hurry Love" (1966): A perfectly crafted, driving Motown pop line.
Stevie Wonder – "I Was Made to Love Her" (1967): A fast-paced, melodic masterpiece.
The Miracles – "Going to a Go-Go" (1965): A prime example of his pocket playing.
Martha and the Vandellas – "Dancing in the Street" (1964): Features a distinctive, high-energy bassline.
Jr. Walker & The All Stars – "Shotgun" (1965): A straightforward yet heavy, driving blues-soul line.

Especially What's going on was something completely different and James mastered the challenge with flying colors. A session musician who can't play?

Toto were session musicians and they played the whole Thriller album, Eddie van Halen even played the Beat it guitar solo for free.

Billy Preston was a top session musician in the 1960s/70s, he recorded with Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and the Rolling Stones and many more
He played electric piano on Get back (The Beatles), If you want me to stay (Sly Stone) etc.

Stevie Winwood played for Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, and Tina Turner etc. as a session musician.
Organ on Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile.

Tina Turner provided backing vocals on several tracks on Frank Zappa’s 1973 album Over-Nite Sensation and the 1974 album Apostrophe, two of Zappa's best albums.

The list is endless...
Perhaps the way I explained it wasn't very clear, or perhaps I'm missing your point. The point I was making was that within the music industry it's not unheard of for a producer or an artist to hire session musicians to lay down parts in a track....parts that the artist or a producer can't play themselves. E.g. a trumpet or a violin or guitar solo.... and that in my opinion, (apart from the financial impact on said session musicians) as long as the results are good, using Ai to do this is not really any different
Except it will never have the soul of James Jameson, Carol Kaye, Hal Blaine, etc.

AI is never going to make a mistake and create the intro to Be My Baby.
Agreed, but I can imagine a time where no one will be able to tell the difference, or even care

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wagtunes wrote: Sat Feb 21, 2026 6:34 pm I just finished this track. Everything is me except the vocals. I could have kept mine, but my Barry Gibb impersonation isn't as good as I'd like it to be. The AI does a much better job.

But here's the thing. Everything else on this track that ISN'T AI, is still a cheat to some extent.

The rhythm track is about 70% loops.

The orchestra and brass is all samples. There are no real string or horn players here.

The guitars are all virtual.

This whole thing was done completely in the box by ONE person. There is no band here.

All of this, we accept. But mention AI and people go into a tizzy.

I don't get it.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... a-have-you
I think the vocals sound like loops also. There is some weird thing about the phrasing which you can hear especially when the harmonizing part comes in. Like they are not in time with the track and overall the pitch sounds weird. Imho the vocals are the weakest part.

I wouldn't really compare samples to AI. Samples are sold so that the performers get credit/paid for their work. Also they are real performances, even if it's a one note at a time.
Last edited by Tubeman on Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 7:59 pm The end of civilization is so close
Only industrial civilization. Mankind is going back to the times before 1760. Transition willbe rough of course. But in two generations they will have adapted fully.

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AI is perfectly capable of creating original, competent, catchy songs in any genre. But where it really makes the most sense for song creators is as a session musician or orchestrator on their own work.
THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED LOUD SO TURN IT UP

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grandmasterbird wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:26 pm Agreed, but I can imagine a time where no one will be able to tell the difference, or even care
This is already the case. Pattern recognition declined fast in the last few decades. Most people can't even tell the difference between a tom and a snare anymore. Or between a piano and a guitar.

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jamcat wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:31 pm AI is perfectly capable of creating original, competent, catchy songs in any genre.
Prove it. Show me a single AI composition that features a catchy hummable melody.

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Tubeman wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:29 pm I think the vocals sound like loops also. There is some weird thing about the phrasing which you can hear especially when the harmonizing part comes in. Like they are not in time with the track and overall the pitch sounds weird. Imho the vocals are the weakest part.
Forget it, wagtunes is not able to hear any of that. To him, everything sounds totally natural.

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Zeisner wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:30 pm
DCrown wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 7:59 pm The end of civilization is so close
Only industrial civilization. Mankind is going back to the times before 1760. Transition willbe rough of course. But in two generations they will have adapted fully.
Image

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Zeisner wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:37 pm
jamcat wrote: Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:31 pm AI is perfectly capable of creating original, competent, catchy songs in any genre.
Prove it. Show me a single AI composition that features a catchy hummable melody.



And this 100% AI song reached #1 on the Billboard Country charts:

THIS MUSIC HAS BEEN MIXED TO BE PLAYED LOUD SO TURN IT UP

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