Christian Ringstad Schultz, the CEO and Co-Founder of AI music mastering platform Masterchannel, insists the industry’s fear is misplaced. He says the focus on AI as a job-killer misses the point. The real problem is financial and has been brewing for decades.
- Same old song: "Artists look at AI as this nail in the coffin, but one of the key challenges in the music industry is that we have undervalued music for so long," Schultz says. "The unit economics are really shit, to be honest." While a framework to fairly compensate artists for AI-derived works is possible, it’s being built on a rotten foundation.
"Everybody's trying to eat the same pie, but we're not trying to grow the pie. We need to think outside of the music industry in terms of where we can generate revenue," says Schultz.
- Bedroom beats: According to Schultz, the industry's economic anxiety is rooted in a flawed debate over originality that misses the rise of the hobbyist creator. "A lot of people creating music think their music is very special, which in many cases it isn't," he says. "They're just copying another pop artist."
He argues the debate must shift toward empowering this massive, overlooked demographic: everyday creators who make music for fun, self-expression, or personal satisfaction rather than fame or commercial success. "You don't see people who take up painting wanting to be the next Rembrandt. They do it because they want to create, and that's something that AI can really help with."
- Innovate or abdicate: This misguided focus on originality, Schultz warns, is leading the music industry down a dangerous path. He points to the major labels' current strategy of first suing generative AI companies like Suno and Udio, only to then seek an equity stake in them. "That's a bit of a terrifying future, because then Big Tech can dictate whatever the music industry is going to do next," he says, calling it a pattern of ceding control for a short-term payout that leaves the industry reactive rather than in command of its own future.
"The music industry needs to start innovating themselves and not just allow tech companies to do it for them," says Schultz. "We need to take ownership of new technology early, instead of letting others dictate the terms just because there’s money on the table. That short-term thinking ignores the bigger picture."