Part Two: How We Fix This

Who is next? That’s up to us.

In Part One, I argued that AI is not the threat. AI is the mirror. It reflects back the patterns, shortcuts, and sameness that have shaped the music business and radio for years. It exposed how predictable the system has become and how easy it is for a machine to reverse engineer what we keep rewarding.

Now it is time for the next step.

If AI can sound like us, how do we fix the system that allowed that to happen?

The answer is not to fight the technology. The answer is to fix the habits that made the technology so effective. If AI can copy the creative baseline, then the real issue is the baseline.

Here is how we move forward.

1. Labels need to stop signing artists just because they already hit the algorithm

One of the biggest challenges in the business is how labels scout talent. Labels are signing acts, not artists. They are signing metrics, not voices. They are signing what already works in the algorithm instead of the artists who could change the algorithm.

There are incredible artists out there with originality, identity, and real point of view. Many of them just do not have the follower count yet. They are building. They are developing. They are growing. Old school A&R would have found them. Years ago, A&R executives had strong ears, strong opinions, and the confidence to take risks. They shaped culture by signing artists before the trend, not after it.

That muscle has faded. Most labels today are not looking for artists who challenge the pattern. They are looking for artists who already match it. Acts that “work” on TikTok because the song fits a familiar sonic formula. Acts that trigger playlist algorithms because the sound sits comfortably next to everything else.

This is not artist development. This is risk elimination.

Labels have turned into financial institutions pouring gas on whatever flame is already burning. And that flame usually exists because the music already sounds like everything else. That is the cycle. Labels reinforce the sameness. AI learns the sameness. Then the industry turns around and complains that AI sounds like the artists it has been prioritizing.

The industry is feeding the problem while complaining about the result.

If labels want to change the role AI plays in music, they must stop using data as taste and stop pretending the algorithm is an A&R filter. Great artists do not always explode early. Great artists often grow quietly. If the industry ignores them because they do not already fit the machine, the machine eventually becomes the entire system.

Humans create culture. Algorithms repeat it. We need more humans again.

2. Radio must reclaim the parts of the job that are non replaceable

AI is not threatening radio because it is better than radio. AI is threatening radio because radio has allowed too many of its human strengths to fade. Breaks have gotten shorter.

Storytelling has been reduced. Creativity has been boxed in. Talent has been pushed into predictable, mechanical tasks. When the human parts of the job are minimized, technology starts to feel more competitive than it actually is.

Radio can fix this.

Talent must bring real personality back.

Humor, stories, lived experience, local quirks, emotional intelligence. These are the things a model cannot replicate. AI can mimic tone. It cannot mimic life.

Stations must coach talent again.

Many talent are operating without training, feedback, or development. As AI raises the baseline of what sounds clean, humans need coaching to reconnect with what makes them unique.

AI should remove tasks, not replace the role.

Let AI handle everything that is not creative or local. Stitching breaks. Logging. Production templates. Repetitive imaging. Traffic alignment. Everyday operational workflows. And yes, music scheduling. When AI handles this predictable work, talent and programmers get time back to create, connect, and build real content.

Programming must become creative again, not clerical.

AI can schedule music. AI can automate formatics. Humans should use this reclaimed time to build identity, create local moments, design imaging concepts, innovate music strategy, and elevate the personality of the station.

AI is not replacing radio.

Radio now has the chance to use AI to remove everything that is not uniquely human.

When radio leans into the parts that only humans can do, radio becomes impossible to replace.

3. The industry must stop chasing sameness

AI thrives in predictable systems. If almost every decision is based on what already works, then AI will always win at the game of imitation. The only way forward is to break the loop.

Reward creative risk.

Novelty, bold writing, unusual production, identity, and point of view. These are the things AI cannot predict or replicate.

Stop letting short term metrics control every decision.

Streaming velocity, playlist adds, and viral data matter, but none of those things define creativity.

Lead trends instead of following them.

Culture moves forward when people stop chasing what works today and start building what works next.

4. Collaboration must replace silos

Artists, labels, radio, streaming platforms, and AI companies cannot operate in separate lanes anymore. The future depends on working together.

Radio must lead discovery.

Do not wait for playlists or TikTok to decide what is cool. Break the artists who sound different.

Labels must share real creative insight. Not just performance charts. Insight into early creative shifts and new directions helps partners engage sooner.

Artists should use AI as a creative amplifier.

Use it to spark ideas and explore possibilities. AI can widen the canvas while the artist chooses the direction.

5. Humans bring the advantage AI cannot replace

AI is great at patterns and repetition. AI optimizes what already exists. But AI cannot create the qualities that make music, content, and radio matter.

Human strengths are the real advantage.

Creativity

New ideas, new sounds, new directions. AI cannot invent something that has never existed.

Perspective

Taste, personal story, worldview, instinct. A model cannot have a point of view.

Identity

The voice, the style, the quirks, the lived experience that make an artist or talent unique.

Local connection

Knowledge of the city. The people, places, events, and culture that only locals know. AI cannot attend a high school game or a neighborhood festival.

Personality

The humor, warmth, timing, intuition, and emotional read of a moment. This is where humans win every time.

When the industry rewards these qualities again, AI stops looking like competition and becomes a tool that helps us do the work better.

The path forward

AI did not cause the creative stagnation in the industry. It revealed it. AI did not reduce creativity. It showed how little of our creativity we were actually using. The good news is that this is fixable. The next chapter belongs to the creators and leaders who use AI to remove the mechanical parts of their job so they can spend more time on the human parts.

It belongs to the artists with real identity.

It belongs to the programmers who want to build something fresh.

It belongs to the talent who choose personality over predictability.

AI is not here to take our place.

It is here to push us to be better.

If we let it.