The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood Warns About Losing the Heartbeat of Music To AI

Having played a part in the music industry since the 1960s, Ronnie Wood performed in bands like Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. But for most, they know Wood as a member of the legendary group the Rolling Stones. With a lifetime worth of experience in the music industry, Wood watched as the industry changed numerous times over the decades. And with the recent advances in AI, the musician warned that the technology could steal the heartbeat of music. 

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While attending an event for a new book celebrating Buddy Holly called Buddy Holly: Words of Love, Wood decided to open up about his thoughts on AI and some dangers he could see coming from the technology. “We were throwing s*** at the wall and some of it stuck. There’s something about the technology I feel personally, we’re losing the essence of the heartbeat. Maybe its because I’m older, but there’s not much new music.”

Ronnie Wood Hints At The “Bounce Back” Of Rock Music

It wasn’t just AI that worried Wood as he also witnessed the rise of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Giving fans a direct line to their favorite artists and singers, it became extremely easy to create and promote music without a label. “For the past four years a lot of majors have been able to control what we’ve been placed in front of us, but we know apps like TikTok, Instagram and everything like that I really find that people can provide authenticity again directly. If you have a story to tell, you can tell it and tell it to the world. You don’t have to go through seven steps.”

Although Wood knew that change was inevitable, he wasn’t a fan of watching how rock music became democratic. “I think rock music has been so convoluted because we got to be forced and twisted for a mainstream audience to turn the guitar down.” He continued, “Modern music’s been in a strange place, but it’s exciting because it’s really, I feel it’s very democratic again.”

While only time will tell how AI changes the way artists write and produce music, Wood had faith in rock music and insisted, “I really feel like it’s finding its bounce back, and it’s becoming hysterical again and it’s exciting.”

(Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)