With the new year comes countless resolutions.
"I'm going to lose weight."
"I'm going spend less money."
"I'm going to get more organized."
While all of these are good resolutions, most of them fall through halfway through the year. In my opinion, why not make a resolution to change your perspective on life?
The only resolution I made at the end of 2015 was to stop caring about what everyone thought of me. While I still struggle with this going into 2017, I can say that it's changed everything for me and made me so much happier.
This is it and say it over and over to yourself every single day if you need to.
"I will not let peoples' opinions of me or how I choose to live my life influence how I feel about myself."
I still have to tell myself this every single day, but whether it be once or a hundred times a day, it helps me look at my life and see that I'm doing all that I can. This mantra, if you will, has helped me live my life the way I want to live it. Over the course of my life, I've always worried about the opinions of my family or friends and relied on their feedback to make my decisions. Once I lost the friends whose feedback I'd relied on, I felt lost. I realized that I wasn't living the way I wanted to: I was living the way I thought they'd want me to.
2016 was, in fact, the year of "like, realizing things" (Thanks, Kylie).
I realized that life is nothing if you don't do what makes you happy. You can do things that are socially acceptable and that make people around you happy but if you're not waking up excited for what each day has to offer, are you really living the life you want?
Unless your friends/family are genuinely worried for your safety or for your involvement with someone who's toxic, don't worry about what they think. The only person who knows what makes you giddy to see what each day brings is you.
So do what makes you happy. Do what makes your soul sing and what makes your life exactly what you want it to be.
Don't worry about what people think about your makeup or wish you could pull off a purple lipstick. Wear that Jeffree Star color and work it.
Want to cut your hair or get a dozen tattoos? Do it.
Do your family and friends not care for the person you're dating? As long as they make you happy, feel safe, and aren't toxic, then who cares what they say? Love who you want to love.
My point is this: People can have good intentions in giving you life advice or trying to give you their opinions of your life, but many times it's just someone trying to tell you how to live your life in an attempt to control the outcome.
I hope you include something like this into your list of resolutions this New Year and continue to keep remembering it throughout all of 2017.
Happy New Year! Make it your year.
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The Illusion of Creativity
AI-generated music is often marketed as “artistic” or “educational.” But what does it really teach?
- That style can be replicated without understanding.
- That emotion can be simulated without feeling.
- That effort can be bypassed with a prompt.
For young creators, this sets a dangerous precedent. Why learn to play guitar when an algorithm can do it faster? Why study harmony when AI can generate chord progressions in seconds? The risk isn’t just laziness — it’s the loss of depth, discipline, and the tactile joy of creation.
I have listened to several AI-generated music covers. My initial reaction was one of considerable impressiveness, particularly regarding the reimagining of classic pop hits in diverse genres with novel arrangements. Here is one good example a-ha — Take On Me
However, after engaging with several such Ai generated song covers, a sense of emotional detachment emerged, attributable to the perceived absence of human artistry and genuine sentiment, resulting in a technically flawless yet ultimately soulless auditory experience.
Copyright in Crisis
What does the copyright law say about AI generated music, especially in field of music covers. Who is liable for copyright in this case, AI developers, people who used AI to generate music or people who published it on music platforms?
Recent lawsuits show that the music industry is pushing back hard:
- Universal, Sony, and Warner sued AI music platforms Suno and Udio in 2024 for allegedly training their models on copyrighted songs without permission Ars Technica The Lyon Firm.
- They’re seeking up to $150,000 per infringed song, arguing that the AI outputs resemble famous tracks and voices (e.g., Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson).
- These lawsuits target the developers of the AI tools — but they raise broader questions:The legal gray area is training data. Courts haven’t yet ruled definitively on whether using copyrighted songs to train AI counts as infringement or fair use Sites at USC.
But who’s liable?
Role | Legal Risk | Why |
AI Developers | ✅ High | For training on copyrighted material without licenses. |
Users | ⚠️ Moderate | If they intentionally recreate protected works. |
Publishers/Platforms | ✅ High | For distributing infringing content. |
The grey area lies in training data. Courts haven’t yet ruled definitively on whether using copyrighted songs to train AI counts as infringement or fair use. Meanwhile, AI-generated works themselves aren’t eligible for copyright unless a human provides substantial creative input — leaving them in legal limbo.
The Educational Mirage
Some argue that AI music helps people learn genres, production styles, or vocal techniques. But this “education” often lacks context. It’s like learning to paint by watching a printer — technically impressive, but creatively hollow.
True musical education involves:
- Struggle and iteration: Learning through mistakes.
- Emotional connection: Expressing what words can’t.
- Cultural lineage: Understanding the roots of sound.
AI shortcuts bypass all of this. And in doing so, they risk flattening the rich terrain of human creativity into a sterile landscape of algorithmic mimicry.
Why This Fight Matters
This isn’t just about music. It’s about the future of art, storytelling, and human expression. If we allow machines to dominate creative spaces, we risk turning culture into content — optimized, monetized, and devoid of soul.
We must ask: Do we want a world where art is made by machines, or one where machines help humans make better art?
5 Key Takeaways
- AI-generated music blurs the line between innovation and erosion in the creative arts
- AI-generated music raises questions about copyright, culture, education, and artistic expression
- AI-generated music can replicate style without understanding, simulate emotion without feeling, and bypass effort with a prompt
- AI-generated music sets a dangerous precedent for young creators by potentially leading to a loss of depth, discipline, and joy of creation
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