Music is Meant to be Enjoyed

Hello. For many years, I was convinced that the only way to make a living through music was to sell beats. I believed that to succeed in the beat selling business, it was necessary to decide on a theme, create a brand, and consistently produce beats with a unified feel. However, that approach took away the joy of music from me.

Problems with the Beat Selling Business

In the beat selling business, you need to create music that follows a certain format to make it easy for artists to sing or rap over. The instrumentals should not stand out too much. However, when you keep making music in that style, it becomes less enjoyable and more painful. It was frustrating to be bound by a format when I wanted to create various types of music.

In the end, rather than making music while imagining the feelings of customers you’ve never met, you should follow your heart and express what you want to create based on your feelings. When that happens, it becomes difficult to continue the beat selling business as a professional.

Furthermore, with the rise of AI, if artists start directly producing beats using AI, the scale of the beat selling business may drastically decrease or even disappear. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be more joyful to try what you want to do rather than being bound by the beat selling business?

How Encountering Music Generation AI Changed Things

However, my way of thinking greatly changed after encountering music generation AI. I realized that there was no need to do the beat selling business through music in the first place. I realized that music is originally meant to be enjoyed. For me, music is a lifestyle, and it’s something I will continue regardless of whether I can make money from it or not.

The world is a strange place. When you try to approach something as a business, it can be difficult to succeed, but when you focus on enjoying it, somehow things work out.

I feel like generative AI has loosened my rigid mindset.

AI is Just One Means of Music Production

AI is just one of the means for music production. Whether I directly create beats or use AI by writing prompts, in the end, my unique style is expressed by passing through the filter of “me”. That’s why I have no resistance to utilizing AI.

Music is Not a Business for Me

I have been writing business-like blog articles until now, but I am now questioning the meaning of that. Music is not a business for me. Music is meant to be enjoyed. I will continue to enjoy music and express my individuality.