I am a musician/music profucer who made trance music (subgenre of electronic music) for 18 years. I had my ups and downs in this scene, a few releases accumulated during that period, occasional breaks etc… but nothing had me prepared for what was to come.

I had already noticed an infestation of AI generated cover art in the past years. While it was quite deplorable, I figured the music itself, at the very least, was safe. Knowing how passionate this community can be about what is “real trance” and what isn’t, I figured that any kind of “AI music” or anything AI related being used in the genre would be met with universal rejection and controversy (similar to how back in the early 2010s there was massive backlash over the “housification” of trance music as a result of the EDM boom in the USA).

Boy, I was SO wrong and naïve in thinking like this.

Late last year on Facebook, a relatively well-known music producer had posted an (obviously Chat got generated) announcement late last year that he will be using “AI generated vocals” in his music going forward. One of the biggest trance music forums had a discussion about this and based on the posts I saw there, the main opinions ranged from “you can’t stop AI” and “what u gonna do about it, start a civil war bro” to outright full on support of generative AI. Barely anyone was calling this out as unacceptable behaviour from a producer and a terrible thing to do in general for the health of the scene. I found that that same forum is being moderated/administered by pro-AI shills, as one of the admins even had a post encouraging people to “post their AI generated tracks here”.

All of this was incredibly disturbing and heartbreaking on so many levels… it made me deeply unmotivated to continue making any trance music, as well as deeply depressed, a depression I am STILL suffering from. What’s the point of making this niche music? Why spend 10+ hours on a single track only for it to be listened to by pro-AI shitheads that would gladly throw you and everyone else under the bus for some pitiful crumbs of dopamine? Why throw pearls for swine?

Every day was full of mental suffering. Back in spring this year it got so bad I was nearly ready to end things… until I mustered up the mental strength to simply… let go.

Letting go of my attachment to this beloved music scene was incredibly difficult. I had pretty much grown up with this scene, spent my adolescence and young adult years listening to trance daily and producing it myself under a couple of different aliases. Seeing the community just blatantly accept AI slop invading, even mostly supporting generative AI in general, it was incredibly heartbreaking.

– On a related note, I’ve also lost two close, longtime friends, both trance fans, to AI psychosis. I never expected those people to ever end up and be this way, it came as a shock.

The first one (let’s call him K) was also a trance producer-turned-metalhead nowadays leading a metalcore band. I noticed last year in 2025 already that K was using AI generated slop on socials promoting his bad, using it for covers and also for “female vocals”. I confronted him about it only for him to get angry, call it a “small issue” and make bullshit arguments about how AI isn’t even that bad, how it’s actually “greener than traditional art” etc. I temporarily stopped talking to him after this conflict hoping that maybe he would come to his senses and realize the error of his ways.

I later found out that K is an active user on a Reddit subreddit that defends AI “Art”. He even made posts about me there about our fallout over his use of gen AI, hoping to have the other lunatics give him validation about how he is in the right and I’m insane for calling him out. Reading all the insults and labels the AI defending lunatics commented about me (“chronically online” “12 years old” “not a true friend” etc.) was difficult. Of course I cut off all contact with him after this. At the time I didn’t really let this whole thing get to me, I figured that this would be just an isolated case.

Then, back in spring this year (during the peak of my severe depression because of gen AI), I lost another friend (let’s call him N). He was a diehard trance fanatic since the 90s, and a long time supporter of my own music, a confidant in a way. When I complained to N about my depression caused by the trance scene being destroyed by AI slop, N completely tone deaf to my woes and concerns. I tried to tell him about how bad gen AI is for society, how it is built through theft, how evil billionaires are supporting it… he wouldn’t listen. He would tell me about how “there are more important things to be concerned about, like Donald Trump” etc. and labeled me as having “bipolar disorder”. I couldn’t really understand why N was acting this way. Then, I found out on Facebook, purely by coincidence, his posts in certain Atheism groups. The posts were AI generated “comics” he generated with one of the widely available online generators. Now it all made sense – it turns out he had already taken a bite of the forbidden apple himself, and was actively generating AI slop and publishing it on various Facebook groups, no wonder he was reluctant to even TALK about this subject. Another friend lost.

Life hasn’t really been the same since. I used to be a passionate person full of hopes and dreams but now I feel like an empty shell of my former self. Losing my two closest friends, and the music scene I had surrounded myself with so long has severely impacted my quality of life.

Is there any hope going forward?

TLDR: Musician of nearly two decades, AI slop infested my niche music scene and most people in the scene either completely don’t care or even support AI slop; how I lost two longtime friends over gen AI.

  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    51·
    1 个月前

    Mod here. Lots of reports about this thread and comments in it and particularly the line of conversation around the OP here possibly being a bot account posting LLM output.

    After looking over everything, there’s one rather belligerent comment that I removed, but beyond that I’ve decided not to take any action. First, I don’t think there’s a strong case that OP is a bot, nor do I think OP really did anything to bring on that suspicion except I guess that this is OP’s first post (but every active user has to make their first post sometime). Though I also don’t blame Grimy for the comment pointing to the similar Reddit thread and I don’t really consider that “doxxing” as Reddit threads usually aren’t really traceable back to any real-world identity.

    I’m hoping a bit of transparency in the mods’ (or at least my) decision making process is appreciated.

    • DaCookie@programming.dev
      31·
      1 个月前

      OP is my SO. I can vouch for them being a real person (imagine me finding out this way I’ve been lied to all those years lol). Thanks for the transparency and trying to stay rational.

      The reddit post was created a while back, true. But after being disillusioned with all these insensitive people over there, I tried introducing them to Lemmy instead. Why wouldn’t they share their views on this platform as well? They’ve already put the effort in to write the original post, so I don’t see anything wrong with reusing one’s own prior work. Breaks my heart a bit seeing how some of the same kind of people here are now acting in the same belittling and insulting manner.

      Dear friends: Just because a post contains more than two paragraphs does not automatically make it LLM-slop. Please get a grip.

    • bthest@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      1 个月前

      An example of how one doesn’t need to be an AI user to be negatively influenced by it mentally. AI is ripping online human connections apart. Which is a feature, not a bug.

  • ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    2 个月前

    Nothing really to say except that I’m very sorry you lost those two close friends. And that I hope you can beat the depression and find your passion again (either for trance music or for something else that inspires you). I think there will always be a core who appreciate human-generated content. But that fruit hasn’t fully ripened yet.

  • driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br
    25·
    2 个月前

    The trance, and specially psytrance, community is shit full of Zionist hippies. Doesn’t surprise me at all that they embrace and accept AI art and music for their superficial spiritually art. Sadly is not only trance but basically every electronic music out there. Spotify is full of it. I use mainly latincore and related, from artists that I can verify that exists or that release in labels with a reputation to defend, so I think I’m kinda free of AI music, butnot sure how much that is going to last.

    Kudos for you for denounce it, hope you keep doing music and experimenting. Share your SoundCloud I check out.

    • rayray@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      10·
      1 个月前

      I have to admit, I was shifting my focus to psytrance after my ordeal with the mainstream (uplifting, progressive) trance scene, due to certain similarities it has with the music I had been doing.

      It occurred to me that it is WAY worse over there – every single goddamn release cover is AI generated, and every single event poster is psychedelic/pseudo-spiritual AI slop with obvious ChatGPT generated text. Wouldn’t be surprised if nearly every new track contains some form of generative AI slop in it through samples, fake AI vocals, fake AI generated instruments or even fully generated slop tracks.

      Like, holy shit… if any music scene is totally lost to gen AI it’s PSYTRANCE.

    • pmtriste@lemmy.world
      7·
      2 个月前

      Damn I know. I really like PsyTrance but I don’t even know where to start any more to not get Zionist or AI-pilled crap. I’ve switched from Spotify to Qobuz (since Spotify actively produces their own slop, and probably so does YouTube), but I’m not sure how to find artists to trust.

  • 🔍🦘🛎@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    2 个月前

    Wow, is trance really considered niche? Your music is a perfect fit for so many aspects of life, and it’s awful that the genre is completely flushed out with AI chill/focus/study playlists. I personally listen to Blue Turtle’s AI-free fantasy playlists while I work. Back in the age of CDs I had so many trance mixes that I’d listen to driving or just zoning out in my bedroom. It’s an incredible type of music that I hold near and dear.

    The influx of AI everywhere IS distressing, but it’s good you’re in a better spot mentally now. I’d encourage you to keep creating. If not music, find an outlet to express yourself, even if The Plagiarism Machine can do it 1000x faster. Because creating is clearly important to you, or any artistically minded person. I enjoy TTRPGs and it’s so satisfying to worldbuild, come up with scenarios for my players, and improvise at the table. Making stuff will both keep you sane and benefit those around you.

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    2 个月前

    I’m a trance (and EDM in general) fan. I deplore generative AI for all the reasons you’ve stated, so I won’t get into it again right here. So I’m behind you. There are at least two of us.

    My advice, tone deaf though it may be (ha), is that if you love to do something enough you can do it anyway and to hell with what shitheads have to say about it. That’s an inherent part of all art in some capacity, I think. The math is muddier when you depend on doing that art for a living. But if you still want to do it even if it can’t be your day job, go for it.

    My audience will never be millions-wide. I implicitly limit my potential viewer base by only publishing (and advertising) in the Fediverse and even then only on Lemmy. So be it. Work is what you do for other people. Art is what you do for yourself.

    Then, there will come a day when this all comes crashing down. Some of us will still have our skills afterwards. When it’s all derivative, when it’s all grey noise that sounds the same, who is going to be able to come up with something truly new?

    You.

  • pixelmeow@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    2 个月前

    I love Trance, for over 30 years. You do what you love doing and know you have fans who are not interested in AI-generated “art” of any kind. I’m not up on new music but I’d love to hear your work :)

  • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
    9·
    2 个月前

    Artists deserve better fans. It’s just very difficult for artist and fan to find each other, as these days the platforms you’d do that on, are pro AI.

    But we do have bandcamp, and the fediverse, and other places where people still want art for people by people.

    I’d love to give your human-made tracks a listen.

  • agent_nycto@lemmy.world
    7·
    1 个月前

    Ok, so hell yeah, love trance music.

    So here’s some hope for you:

    You’re talking to people who are making music, not the people who listen to it. I think the people who listen to music want the human touch.

    I think if you did keep making it and really learned into how it’s all human made, you’d find that niche of people who hate this AI shit.

    Stick to your guns and keep making the music you love.

    Also if you want post where we can find it, I’m curious what your style is

    • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
      6·
      2 个月前

      This is an extremely insensitive take.

      “Wanting the people in your life to be decent and understanding is just too much to ask, just settle.”

      I completely understand OPs viewpoint.

      You can’t force people to agree with you, no, but that doesn’t mean you should accept it if they take stances that are irreconcilable.

      I absolutely have and will cut people out of my life at the drop of a hat if they say, do, or believe something harmful to me or people I care about (which to any sane person should be everyone) if they refuse to reconsider.

        • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
          6·
          2 个月前

          That’s not a response.

          “Do the thing you are already doing.”

          You concern me. You are willing to overlook issues in the behaviors and outlooks of others. And you are suggesting others should too. To “chill” so to speak.

          The smallest “good” thing any one person can do, is to admonish harm as often as they are able, so that those who would engage in it encounter social friction when they do.

          That is what I am doing now.

      • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
        7·
        2 个月前

        “Don’t have just one career, juggle at least two or three so you can never be unemployed.”

        Which part of OPs post made you think music was their hobby?

        Also, depression doesn’t happen because you get caught off-guard by an identity crisis. Some people are predisposed to depression, and it can happen without any particular reason, though OPs case was most certainly made worse by the introduction of gen AI into their scene.

        OP saw something they considered important dismissed by everyone who should have cared, including their immediate friends. That the people around you care is a pretty basic assumption that everyone should be free to make, at least about the circles they participate in. Like among friends. Caring is kind of the point of friendship.

        You’re not entirely wrong that OP needs to “diversify” their support network, but the nice way to say that is to tell them that they need better friends.

          • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
            7·
            2 个月前

            You are psycho-analyzing over the internet.

            Don’t.

            A single social media post is nowhere near sufficient context to claim any level of understanding of OPs mental state, how it got there, and how to fix it.

            But you can’t just kick everyone out of your life and unfriend everyone you’ve ever met because they didn’t validate how you feel in that moment because not every feeling needs to be validated and the fault that every feeling and emotion needs to have some sort of validation is the same reason.

            OP has mentioned two people. What makes you think that is every person they have ever met?

            And just because someone has a different opinion than you, doesn’t mean you should demonize them.

            Does OP seem like they demonized anyone? Seems to me they broke off contact because the people in question only had things to say that made OPs situation worse. Is ceasing the relationship not the right thing to do, in such a situation?

            If these people cared, they would have dealt with OP in ways that avoided harming them, even as their views differed.

            As for me personally, it’s not like I’m cutting people off for preferring to rationalize the virtue of charity through Jesus, instead of plain altruism.

            But if I find out you genuinely think some children should starve because of their nationality or where they were born, I will not be able to stand the sight of you.

            I have similar lines when it comes to AI. The industry as it exists today is a massive unregulated ball of crimes against humanity and the arts.

          • MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz
            5·
            2 个月前

            and you can’t expect everyone to feel concerned just because you’re concerned about something

            No. But you can absolutely expect that from you FRIENDS:

  • nightlily@leminal.spaceEnglish
    5·
    2 个月前

    I feel you on this. I‘m a bedroom producer myself but I haven’t touched my DAW in a while since genAI took off and I got disheartened by it. However I think we need to have a reevaluation of our art. Music has always been an incredibly difficult industry. There’s zero money in it outside labels, especially in the streaming era, and many electronic musicians can’t really access revenue from touring instead. Getting someone to even try listening to something original is like pulling teeth.

    So we’ve gotta reorient and start just making this for ourselves with zero expectations anymore. There’s no real way to actually compete for listeners with Suno-slop, so make it as an act of humanity, purity and rebellion.

  • Digit@lemmy.todayEnglish
    5·
    1 个月前

    I often think how if we had genuine robust social security, stuff like this, would be an utter non-issue.

    • No economic coercive drive to race faster to the bottom. [And so no ai churn]
    • No concern if anyone uses your creations since your livelihood/survival’s no longer tied to it [and the “intellectual property” monopoly you have on it].
  • ComradePenguin@lemmy.ml
    5·
    1 个月前

    Is this what people call AI psychosis? I thought it was actual psychosis. TIL

    Anyways I love trance and psytrance, it has been a big part of my life. I have only listened to A State of Trance a year ago or so, and then mostly other podcasts and some songs I found and loved.

    Hearing how AI is ruining the genre sounds really disappointing. Same goes for the development of psytrance and the zionism connections.

  • MonaySimpson@lemmy.ml
    5·
    2 个月前

    Depression sucks bro and its hard to see the light from the tunnel.

    I am seeing wildy successful posts of thirty hand drawn signs and “AI free” art. It could be your new selling point.

    While you might not see people being openly anti AI in your community they might not be as brave as you to speak out.

    If you need to also seek support, the brain is like any body part that can be hurt and need professional care.

    Don’t lose hope man.

    PS do you have a link to your music, people here would love it I’m sure.

  • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
    5·
    2 个月前

    Sorry for your loss.

    Sad to see even creators are falling for the AI hype train. I already had an issue with finding new artists to listen to, since many are either “rational adaptors” (e.g. don’t think it’s good for music, but think it’s good enough for everything else), or outright just posting slop trying to pass as real stuff.

    I suggest you to look around for some anti-AI artist communities. I probably also should join some, became quite socially reclusive recently as I’m losing friends left and right to various things.