how musicmagpie exposed AI's musical heist
While the rest of the music industry was busy clutching their pearls about AI, we decided to roll up our sleeves and quantify the bloody problem and put data to opinion. Our “Bop or Bot?” campaign exposed the staggering scale of AI music plagiarism, revealing which artists are losing the most revenue to digital imposters, and proving that most listeners can’t tell the difference between the real Drake and an AI counterfeit.
The campaign generated international coverage, sparked debate, and landed musicMagpie in some dreamy publications.
THE INSIGHT
The music industry has been up in arms about AI-generated music, with artists from Billie Eilish to the estate of Frank Sinatra calling it an “assault on human creativity.” But amidst all the noise, we noticed something rather critical was missing: cold, hard facts. Everyone was banging on about the threat without actually quantifying it.
We spotted a golden opportunity to cut through the noise and position musicMagpie as the authority willing to roll up its sleeves and investigate what was really happening. Our hunch? If we could be the first to measure the actual scale of AI music plagiarism, we’d create a story that would resonate with multiple audience segments from passionate music fans to industry insiders and generate substantial media coverage while boosting brand awareness.
THE CONCEPT
We brought cold, hard facts through a three-pronged strategy: a thorough data collection, genre-spanning analysis, and a cheeky public experiment.
After analysing 1,500 AI-generated covers, we calculated artist’s revenue losses down to the penny.
We knew a strategic outreach strategy would amplify our reach, so we included data from K-pop sensations, Swift’s empire, and classic rock legends like Mercury. This clever genre spread created multiple outreach angles that tapped into passionate fanbases who then amplified our research across their extensive networks. The result? Well, you’re going to have to keep reading.
To add to the campaign, we created our own AI music experiment, pitting a generated track against a real tune and challenging 47 participants to spot the fake. The results were revealing: despite 72% claiming they could recognise AI, nearly half failed the test, with Gen Z performing worst. The experiment proved conclusively that AI music was already fooling listeners across generations.
THE RESULTS
The campaign was an absolute blinder, generating more than 30 pieces of coverage in top-tier publications including Sportskeeda, Hypebot, and Tech Radar. The study transcended borders, sparking conversations in multiple territories as international media outlets picked up the story.
Our strategic targeting of diverse music communities paid dividends, with the research spreading like wildfire across social media platforms. K-pop stan accounts, classic rock forums, and pop music communities all shared and debated our findings, driving more than 100,000 social media impressions.
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