Honors Projects

Abstract

Music serves as one of society's biggest cultural outlets, allowing millions to share in what used to be a uniquely human form of expression. The commodification of music has built a huge industry full of companies and platforms that have used technology and property laws to shape music's relationship with the public. This study aims to look into the future to see how AI and its implementation could affect the structure of the music industry. To look into the future, this piece establishes two of the most pressing kinds of AI technology for the music industry and looks to contextualize their application through looking at some of the industry's’ past trends. There is also a normative portion where I offer my outlook and concerns based on potential future AI implementation. AI will most likely impact artists' relations to the industry, the options consumers have to access cultural products such as music, and the amount of control the industry has over the music itself. Much of the projection implies that AI primarily serves as a tool to facilitate the extraction of rent for the industry and tighten corporate control of the music world through enclosure. The final portion of the paper highlights some ways to avoid the corporate controlled future and keep such an important cultural resource from being enclosed upon.

Department

Political Science

Major

Political Science

First Advisor

Dr. Stefan Fritsch

First Advisor Department

Political Science

Second Advisor

Dr. Clayton Rosati

Second Advisor Department

Communication

Third Advisor

Shawna Babula

Third Advisor Department

Honors Program

Publication Date

Summer 8-3-2026

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