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This is a simulated artist of sorts: this month a virtual rapper called FN Meka is at the center of a critical storm involving the ethics of (re)creating cultural production using digital blackface and artificial intelligence. became. The backlash resulted in FN Meka being removed from Major, his label, Capitol, who signed the project, though there was some debate as to how much of the rapper’s music was derived from Algorithm.
Spotify continues to add so-called “fake” artists to some of its main playlists. That is, music that costs less to Spotify than artists and is made by pseudonymous artists who create tracks just to add to these playlists. A person who is signed to a major record label. Though listened to millions of times in some cases, streaming outside the walls of his platform is basically non-existent.
Are any of these cases acceptable, and more pressingly, are they avoidable?
In this week’s popcast, we discuss the various ways music is alienated from the people who create it and the listeners who listen to it, and its philosophical implications for creative agency.
The guests:
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Joe Coscarelli, pop music reporter for The New York Times
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Ryan Broderick, author of the Garbage Day newsletter
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Tim Ingham, founder and publisher of Music Business Worldwide
Connect to popcast. Be Part of the Popcast Community: Join the Show facebook group When cacophony channelWe would love to hear from you! Send us your feedback at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow host Jon Caramanica on Twitter. @joncaramanica.