New Musical Journey – Part 04

I will agree with you that the previous article has all the makings of a promotional article aimed at highlighting my product with a lot of marketing effect and playing on the rarity, limited availability and exclusive side of the thing. At the same time, since the first articles of the journey I have been talking to you about the behind the scenes of the project but not about the project itself… Admit that it is still a bit weird to talk about something without knowing exactly what it is, right?

Well, at the same time it was said between two lines but it does not say if the project is structured and if it is how it is… And that is also important because if I had done things in a totally random way in a hasty or even crap-in mode, I would not be presenting it as an important project for me. There is still rigor and methodology in what I do at the project level and it is reassuring to know that the guy opposite takes it seriously and that he gives himself the means to complete his project with a realistic and reasonable schedule.

It would be a project that would cost me nothing and that would cost people nothing, I would perhaps not be as strict about monitoring, the quality of the leads generated or the fact of making a macro-planning with a complete distribution of the project over time. However, I am going to invest in this project, hoping that this investment will be enough to generate interest and make people want to follow what is happening and why not participate?

That said, now that the presentation of the project has been made, we can gently go back behind the scenes, because I have a lot of information to give on my latest wanderings of July / August. And believe me, it is well worth having inflicted the previous article on myself! In summary: a dive into the media, a story of a circle enlargement and a circle about to be enlarged… Believe me, you will not be disappointed by the content of this article…

And if you are, too bad for you!

So in terms of circle, you have the mouth, the anus and the vagina but that doesn’t stick with everyone. Otherwise you can also tell yourself that the dirty subtext you spotted wasn’t really one and that we’re going to talk about crowdfunding circles here as a priority. Do you have any doubts? Usually you’re right to have this reflex but here we’re really talking about crowdfunding circles that allow you to start a campaign with peace of mind. Do you sense the problem coming from the outset or have you understood that if we talk about it it’s because it’s bound to cause a problem somewhere? Bingo! But before explaining to you why it’s a problem, we should define this notion of circle

• Circle 1: family and close friends. All the people likely to support your project, directly or indirectly;
• Circle 2: friends of friends and acquaintances. All those people we’re likely to meet and with whom we usually have good relationships;
• Circle 3: the rest of the world;

In crowdfunding, we are told that a project that starts with X people following it has a better chance of generating interest than a project that starts with 0 people following it. We are also told that the first and second circles “must be pampered” because they are the basis that will allow the project to grow. Stupid question: when you have almost no circles 1 and 2, how does it work?

Come on, let me break your circle, you’re going to split your sides!

So yeah… I may be a member of a fairly large family, but I am nonetheless unique in my kind. That is to say, I am an only child and therefore my immediate family consists of my parents and my family of the moment (my wife and my two children who are not old enough to read dad’s bullshit and that’s a good thing). Then I have cousins ​​but as I grew up we hardly had any contact even though they all came to my wedding (because yes, I did that too); they each have their own family life and honestly I can’t see myself turning up in the mode “well, dear family, the guy you met 5 years ago at his own wedding wants to ask you to follow him in a project of his own when for the last 20 years he was as present in your lives as the plane tree at the edge of town that you pass by practically every day but that you couldn’t care less about unless you bump into it because it crossed the road, that stupid plane tree!”. In short, you will have understood, in terms of family (circle 1) it’s not a given…

We choose our friends but rarely our family… So yes, ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times yes! I can only agree with this sentence but here it is… It seems that my sociability is like that of a techno-priest in Warhammer 40,000, that is to say frozen at a very low level with no possible improvement at this level. So no, in reality it is not a problem of sociability but rather a problem linked to the isolation imposed by the different creative phases that I go through. Indeed, I already have a full-time fixed job during the week which is far from being a hideout (because yes, I work and not half-heartedly… And first of all because I am demanding with myself and with the quality of my deliverables but that is just because I am incapable of conceiving that we hand in crap or shoddy work). On top of that I have a real family life with children and besides that I try to complete constructive personal projects in my free time because otherwise it really becomes a problem for me. And when I say that it becomes a problem, it is because if I do not release my creative power regularly enough it ends up devouring me from the inside, mentally speaking.

A CBD blessing without THC to get you off to a good start!

Yes. Even though I am perfectly balanced and mentally stable, I still have a hard time when my brain tells me “I’m saturated, I have to produce something or I’m going to explode because I need to empty myself so much”. And if it were just the brain, but anyway, we are moving away from the main idea, namely that given these conditions combined, it is quite difficult for me to have a social life, to make friends and to keep them in the long term because in reality I am a shadow among shadows almost all the time. I can go months without giving the slightest news not because I don’t want to talk to the person but especially because I am busy full time and I don’t see time passing… The few friends I have know it: I am always there but always busy doing something. It can be frustrating to talk to a ghost from time to time, but given the conditions in which I can give free rein to my imagination, it’s not very surprising… But then, my first circle of friends is almost as empty as the family circle, so I’m not going to insult you by telling you that the second circle, when there is no first circle, well… We go straight to the third circle: the rest of the world.

What is my relationship with the rest of the world? A priori, I would say that apart from LinkedIn where I log in once a year to write an article to say that I’m not dead yet… That’s it. So clearly I’m not present on Meta or X and if I had accounts for a totally professional purpose, I admit that the “social networks” tool was the turn I refused to take. There are two main reasons for this: the first is that as with everything in the field of representation and image, it takes time to build an image and especially to maintain it and time is a luxury that I can hardly afford unless I only do my personal project but in the meantime who will feed my family? The second reason is that I know that when faced with people who are mostly “first degree” it will clash directly and it will increase in tension and I don’t want that. That we don’t understand second degree, humor, irony and cynicism is one thing… That we try to play force at all costs to try to have the last word is tiring and uninteresting… And God knows that there are some hell of a community of rednecks on social networks who are low-brow and who always want to be right despite their ignorance and their crass stupidity.

When people start shooting on sight for any reason…

The problem is that they are often quick to take words out of context and use them to conduct witch hunts that have no reason to exist, and the more time goes by, the more I have the impression that this behavior has become the “norm”. We systematically judge without giving the slightest benefit of the doubt; even the presumption of innocence is no longer respected in the face of public opinion, and that is serious! So at the risk of coming across as extremely condescending or even downright stupid (I’ll spare you the descendant, we can’t sink any lower anyway), I literally avoided everything that was social media as much as I could, and even LinkedIn, I was forced to create an account there during a training course to validate a stupid module. No, honestly, I always thought that social media was a plague, that it was the ultimate form of stupidity shared by the mass effect. From my point of view (and having observed it on many occasions), the rule is very rarely denied: the more people you put in a place, the more the average intellectual level will drop. And in the case of social networks, dishonest shepherds have flocks large enough to launch real crusades.

So okay, I’m probably painting a dark picture… I noticed that on Youtube and TikTok there were people who offered interesting and quality content… In the middle of an ocean of shit! Well, I couldn’t do it. I have a real aversion to social networks since their creation and frankly I have never had the desire or the need to be there. I maintain that some make very good content but it doesn’t represent much compared to the flood of idiocies and stupidity that others are capable of spouting all the time. And taking themselves seriously, too! Oh damn… Social networks are a bit like comparing C8 and Arte. Arte offers original and quality content; most of their shows bring something from a knowledge point of view. C8 is supposed to be an entertainment channel with a star show called TPMP which is just… Come on, I’m going to refrain from commenting because I really don’t have anything positive that comes to mind but if we give people the choice between watching C8 and Arte, what do you think they will watch? 3/4 of them don’t even know that Arte exists! So obviously, in this context of general stupidity, it’s hard to want to throw something other than paving stones at people’s faces… And yet, I’m going to have to get down to it, and seriously!

It’s time to get serious…

Indeed, in the context of a crowdfunding campaign if I show up without the first two circles, I will have to prepare myself to take over a gigantic cosmic beating that will review all the existing cosmogonies… At least that’s what the person who is in charge of my project at Ulule explained to me and I can only agree with her. I am heading for disaster if no one follows me in my project but for that I must first talk about it, have a presence and convince the bunch of morons that you all are that I am the greatest, the most powerful, the best, the most beautiful, your one and only God… Or in a more measured and pragmatic way simply do the communication job that is expected of me to defend my project and carry it to its success. I admit that this is not the part in which I shine the most and that I am a little lost. Where am I going to start to “exist from scratch”? Because that is the problem; I asked for a 3 to 6 month delay because I think that’s the time I’ll need to build an image and a presence… But now, I have to find where to start and there, it’s a bit of nothingness that faces me because I don’t even know where to start.

So basically, I distrust artificial intelligence like the plague. James Cameron is my prophet in this regard and the plausibility of a Terminator-style scenario increases as time goes by. But just because I distrust it doesn’t mean I refuse to learn how to use it or even to entrust it with certain tasks that I am incapable of doing myself. We have to live with the times and take advantage of the tools at our disposal, even if they are the ones that will end up judging us useless for the global ecosystem of the Earth and eradicate us by saying “good riddance, you filthy Islamo-leftist Humans!” Wait, am I not mixing everything up? Let’s start from the beginning, shall we… So I said earlier that I was going to have to figure out how to create a reputation for myself and a community of people willing to follow me in my project. I thought about bribing the AI ​​for what death threats to people who don’t support my project but I have nothing that could interest it to do this job. Even Copilot let me know that it wasn’t going to be possible… So I’m going to have to find another solution… So I asked Google.

When you don’t know, ask your friend Google…

And the answer was not at all devoid of interest. Indeed, in the various answers that were given to me, there is one that clearly says “there is no secret. If you do a musical project then you have to be present on online digital platforms and offer your content. Then, you make your web page, your newsletter and your profile on all the platforms and then all you have to do is follow the criticism that will be made of your work and be present to respond to your community of “fans” who will either grow or never grow depending on how your achievements are perceived”. In short, it’s not a given but it can be done. The problem is that I have no idea how to get broadcast on platforms like Spotify, Apple music or Amazon! So I start to look for information little by little and I come across IMusician and TuneCore (among others) and I start to find out about how these tools work. Because yes, they are tools, new tools but they will be more than useful in my quest to create a community, even if I don’t make fun of Gandalf and I’m not looking for a Hobbit to lead a troop of dwarves…

To avoid the pitfall of SUNO (loss of 57 songs because we didn’t read the FAQ in addition to having gotten bored with the general conditions of use in their entirety), I decide to take the time to do some research and the first of them is to know if AI-generated music is something that is possible on IMusician or TuneCore. And there again, the answer is not in the CGU and the CGV but directly in the question / answer forums or even in the emails that we send directly. IMusician, I came across a discussion for someone who had a similar request to mine and who was gently rebuffed in the mode “yes, of course you have the rights to your composition but since it is made by AI we are clearly not going to accept it”. So IMusician, which seemed promising, I can clearly put a big red cross on it. It is dead and buried before even having started. So I fall back on TuneCore and I ask the question by email to find out what is going on. The answer is… “yes but”.

when someone does to you exactly what you do to others all the time… the “yes… BUT!”

So here’s the response I got from TuneCore:

While we can’t share our internal review practices and specific restrictions regarding AI-created releases, we can share the following guidelines.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to ensure that any releases you make using AI components meet the following criteria:

1. The song MUST NOT be 100% AI-generated (meaning that all parts of the song are AI-generated without any traditional composition or input). If you add a vocal, song, or instrument to something created with AI, it’s no longer considered 100% AI.
2. AI components must have IP/Copyright permission from all artists they include in their training models.
3. As the uploader, you must ensure that you have the right to distribute the release with these AI components.

If these criteria are not met with 100% certainty, the release may be rejected as part of the review process. Please remember that all release approvals are at the discretion of TuneCore.

I hope this helps. If we can help in any other way, please let us know!

For point 1, no problem: there is always a minimum contribution of lyrics and structure, at best there are real bits of compositions in it when it goes well.

For point 2, I absolutely cannot be sure. SUNO would have to clearly state “our training models have had all the authorizations of all the artists who were used to train the AI” but that is downright impossible to be sure of unless SUNO clearly publishes it one day. Instead of a clear confirmation, there is currently a complaint from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against SUNO and UDIO for having “illegally” used their artists’ catalog to train their AI… And besides that, SUNO responds that they appeal to “Fair Use” and that concretely this notion legally allows them to use the RIAA catalog. The RIAA admits that the use of “Fair Use” could allow SUNO and UDIO to use their catalog but… Come on, no need to continue, everything is on this link to the website of the newspaper “le Monde” which summarizes the case. For the moment, it is uncertain since it is a trial still in progress and not judged.

For point 3, it is a done deal. Not only does SUNO offer it in its general conditions but they also encourage the practice! There you go.

It’s time for me to add my two cents to the discussion. Yes, because well, we talk about just about anything and everything about AI and at some point, when we ask specialists who program it, they all say pretty much the same thing: There are several ways to program an AI. Machine Learning is a long but controlled learning process with one or more engineers who will configure and train the algorithm over time to help it improve. Deep Learning, basically you throw astronomical quantities of data into it and the algorithm runs on a logic specific to the data it was given. Well, out of there we’re going to make a dirty analogy: basic AI is like a kid. If you want it to evolve, you have to educate it and depending on how you educate it, it won’t come out with the same thing and it won’t have the same path. Do we refuse education to a child? The question may seem stupid, but it is exactly the question that is being asked between SUNO and the RIAA. We are going to teach a whole set of information to our own children, but when we introduce them to music, television, culture in general… Are we going to be accused of plagiarism and of not respecting copyright? Yes, it is completely stupid to think like that, but on the other hand, culture should never be the hostage of large companies that happily profit from it.

When you wanted to say something and people kind of got the idea…

So let’s summarize… A priori I could clearly use TuneCore to the extent that I validate the points over which I have control. Concerning point 2, it is currently being judged and therefore potentially if it turns out that SUNO has indeed used the works without the consent of the authors and that “Fair Use” is recognized as inadequate in this case, the RIAA wins its case and I have it deep in my ass if I take the subscription to TuneCore because in this case they can clearly throw me out of their catalog in “blacklist” mode because I no longer respect their conditions while it is totally out of my reach to ensure that the artists’ copyright has not been violated… Say, TuneCore, at one point do you wonder if your criteria are not a little totally stupid? No, I say that because right now I have no way of ensuring point 2 and if it changes it really puts me in trouble. Fantastic, right? At the same time, the RIAA doesn’t give a damn about the fact that artists are in competition with AI. What annoys them is that on the achievements made by AI they don’t get anything and so these artists don’t go through them and therefore they can’t take a commission. So it’s a screw-up and a loss of income that must be urgently remedied…

Do you think I’m exaggerating? I would say “not that much” somewhere. The complaint is still based on attempts to circumvent the security put in place by SUNO to try to create songs identical to those existing… When you see that they tried “m a r i a h c a r r e y” in the definition of styles, it is clearly trying to circumvent security… It is like in his time this dear Thomas EDISON who “westinghoused” (electrocuted) animals in public to prove that alternating current was more dangerous than his direct current and who had the first electric chair made by Harold P. Brown to try to discredit alternating current. Now the question is “who is more dangerous? The alternating current or the sick man who executes animals in public and who has an electric chair made to discredit a competitor?”. So you know what I think of the RIAA’s complaint against SUNO and UDIO. And if it lacks clarity, well too bad… The fact is that this story of trial weighs heavily on my project and that at TuneCore they are very nice but here they do not help me at all. They would even have every reason to refuse the slightest release as long as all this is not clarified… So we will see what it will give but the time will seem long to me…