About seven years ago I stumbled into songwriting. It wasn’t a calculated decision; it was on a whim and a prayer. For me it was therapeutic and a new challenge. It allowed me to use a completely different part of my brain that was probably well on its way towards atrophy.
I was fortunate to find Murray Foster and the Toronto Songwriting School. Murray and his co-pilot, Mary Krause, have created a truly amazing community of aspiring songwriters from all walks of life. Their Songwriter Getaways to locales like St. John’s, New Orleans and Austin weren’t just fun, in many ways, they were life changing!
Part of Murray’s teaching was to introduce us to the business side of the music industry. Specifically, how to register our songs with different rights management organizations to collect royalties from our original works. It’s not a get rich quick scheme but a valuable piece of the puzzle.
Fast forward a few years and I’ve actually collected a few pennies from SOCAN (one of the major rights management companies in Canada). So, when I got the invitation to attend their 2025 Annual General Meeting, I thought I should get off my arse and just go for the life experience. With visions of hobnobbing with Shania and Celine I sent SOCAN my RSVP to attend in person.
Much to my chagrin, Shania and Celine either sent their people or attended virtually. While the attendees lacked star power, there were some good conversations about the impact of AI on the music industry.
One key thought I took away from the event was the value of judgement in creativity. This is something that AI lacks and is not something that AI will attain anytime soon.
I think this is relevant to not just the music industry but most industries that rely on judgement. As a mortgage broker, I know AI can adjudicate a cookie cutter deal, but those deals are a small percent of the business. The value we add is where we make judgement calls. Where we listen to the stories, assess all the facts, analyze the real estate, question the borrowers, and use our experience and judgement to come up with a plan of action. That’s where we add value; that’s the human edge.
(If Shania or Celine happen to be reading this, let’s co-write a song. Call me!)