StrmMusic’s AI Usage Policy
“No synthesizers.”
If you’ve seen one of Queen’s mid-70s albums, you may have noticed that little disclaimer in the liner notes. It was supposedly included to defend May’s layered guitar work and Mercury’s vocal arrangements against accusations of synthesized sounds.
Queen soon embraced synths on The Game (1980).
We believe that the tool itself was never the real issue. The issue was whether it replaced craft or extended it.
With this newest tool, we’re revisiting those same issues. But AI’s rate of change doesn’t allow for wait-and-see consideration. And if we don’t establish our boundaries now, we may not have the chance.
We believe in artist-friendly AI.
Yes, we believe that AI is a threat to artists and their art. We also believe it’s a tool to fight back against that very threat.
We define “artist-friendly AI” as a tool that protects the authenticity, creativity, and humanity of the artist and their art – while extending their output, impact, and ultimately their connection to flesh-and-blood fans. Within those boundaries, we intend to explore and expand our AI-powered offerings.
Our career accelerator tools leverage trained LLMs to offer personalized, practical guidance for independent artists navigating the music industry. Our StrmHero offering uses agentic AI to reduce the admin of distro (and a whole lot more) from hours to minutes. StrmHero Labs goes even further, with social media trendspotting, content creation, and automated scheduling.
Our AI tools are designed to extend human craft. They address the common (and sometimes infuriating) friction experienced by independent artists in the music industry. They provide insights that can’t be found elsewhere. They define a path for professional success. They empower independents with best-in-market production tools. And they take care of the boring stuff so artists can focus on their music, their fans, and their careers.
Artists are encouraged to use them as much or as little as they wish. None of their content is used to train our models, ever.
This time of massive industry and cultural change is far from over. But we’ll continue to support artists at any stage – and we’ll use our human experience, values, and empathy to do what’s right.
This policy was drafted, debated, and approved by the em-dash loving humans at StrmMusic
We work directly with artists to improve our product, presence, and policies. Let us know how we can help extend your craft at @strm.music.us (IG).
