AI and the Music Industry with Mitch Glazier
Does AI pose an existential threat to artists and humanity? Does it spell certain doom for original creativity? Are there any legal protections or policies going into place to protect the independent creator? In this episode of The David Andrew Wiebe Show, David wrangles RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier into a conversation at Music Pro ’26 about AI technologies and their broader implications for artists and the music industry. In This Episode: - What the RIAA has identified as the major issues surrounding AI - How AI disclosure is becoming essential - Why Mitch feels AI represents a major opportunity for artists - Why the AI literate will be positioned to take advantage of more opportunities - How the music industry has adapted and thrived through multiple significant shifts - Why AI policy is crucial for protecting creatives, especially now - What Mitch thinks of David’s MRCT framework - Why the fans are in control and how to avoid an authenticity backlash - How Mitch describes the artist model for 2026 - Why David doesn’t believe in outsourcing his brain to AI - How Hypebot suggests creators utilize AI (great quote!) Key Resources: - Recording Industry Association of America: advocating for the music ecosystem through policy - Kit: email marketing platform for creators David’s Best Tips for Leveraging AI AI can be a blessing or a curse (or both, or even something in between) based on your understanding and context of how it works. And this isn’t something we can get across in a paragraph. What we can offer, however, is a high-level view of how you can effectively leverage AI in your creative work. Here’s David’s framework: Study Prompt Engineering If you want to get better outputs from AI chatbots, you must speak their language. That’s the essence of prompt engineering. You don’t necessarily need to become a professional prompt engineer. Taking a couple of Udemy courses should prove more than enough to get started. Subscribing to newsletters like Superhuman AI for ongoing inspiration. Experiment Broadly Before wholesale adopting and implementing AI in your ecosystem, experiment. Try a variety of things, from researching relevant topics to analyzing a dataset. AI is seductive in its appeal. But you can’t look at its work through rose-tinted glasses, or you will be in danger of believing everything it does is great. Reality check – it isn’t. You’ve got to push its limits and question its outputs. Notice what it does well and notice where it fails. Then, learn how to steer it towards useful generations. This part doesn’t come together overnight. Experiment broadly, and make level-headed observations. Determine Where AI is Most Useful and Effective Also see the previous point. As you experiment, identify where AI can be of productive assistance to you. This will vary from creator to creator, but it’s crucial to determine where it can and cannot provide efficiencies before committing to its outputs. David uses a mix of tools to create social media posts, podcast transcripts, short videos (clips), podcast show notes drafts, and more. But he doesn’t use AI for any of his writing. Create Frameworks Creating repeatable processes makes it possible to generate more consistent and predictable results. Using the same chat for the same tasks is a good start, but crafting a prompt that works every time is the real flex. Document and store the frameworks that boost your efficiency and make your life easier. Establish a Central Repository While AI can go beyond your prompt and search the web for additional information, it still hallucinates and digs up useless and inaccurate reference points. A better strategy is to create a central repository (in Google Drive) for key contextual information (style guides, audience research, frameworks, etc.) and give your AI model access to this information. Keep in mind, though, that you need to keep your repository up-to-date, or chatbots will assume earlier context. Be the Final Reviewer and Decisionmaker There are things AI can provide and those it cannot. This James Schramko video explains it very well: To summarize, AI can provide structure, discipline, consistency, and speed. But you’re the only one who can provide taste, context, authority, experience, and final calls. Whatever you’re generating, use your filter of taste, context, authority, experience and final calls to improve outputs. Be Real Disclose AI use. Let people know when and where you’re utilizing it, especially where it’s likely to become a legal requirement (e.g., creator platforms). AI hate is strong and growing. You have nothing to gain and everything to lose by hiding your use of AI. And if you’re still one of the real ones creating real content, be proud of this fact and let your audience know. You’re Invited! Thanks for listening. How would you like to keep up-to-date with the podcast? Please take a moment to subscribe. You will receive weekly emails notifying you of the latest developments. Read the full article
