The old-school radio mafia has gone digital—and this time, they want to replace the artist completely.
The infamous Payola scandal has officially gone digital.
Do you have any idea what I am talking about? The Payola scam goes back to the 1950s, when corrupt record labels literally paid radio DJs cash under the table to play their artists’ records. Fast forward to today, and Spotify’s “Discovery Mode” is doing the exact same thing. They will only algorithmically push an independent artist’s music if that artist agrees to accept an even lower royalty payout. It is nothing more than digital Payola.
The old radio scam has officially been upgraded for the smartphone era. But this time, there is a massive, terrifying difference. Armed with modern AI technology and driven by pure corporate greed, the tech sharks are slowly building a world where the human artist doesn’t even exist.
You think I’ve lost it? You think I’m just inventing a dystopian fantasy world to get clicks for my blog? I so wish you were right. But you aren’t.
Do you honestly think these tech giants care about human expression? If you do, you are the one living in a fantasy world. I am sorry to break it to you, but the corporate sharks aren’t just trying to pay artists less anymore—they are trying to eliminate the human creator completely.
Why? Because from a billionaire tech executive’s point of view, real musicians like Libor or Kristina are a massive, annoying problem. Humans need to eat. They need to pay a mortgage or rent in Prague. They complain about receiving fractions of a cent, they get tired, and they actually need a few hours of sleep after playing a late-night gig in Moravia.
To a Silicon Valley algorithm, a human being is just an unnecessary financial burden. Like it or not.
The Past Needed the Artist
In the old days, Colonel Tom Parker stole half of Elvis Presley’s money, and predatory labels stole Little Richard’s songwriting royalties. But as greedy as those old-school gangsters were, they still needed Elvis and Little Richard to make the music. They couldn’t print money without raw human genius.
Today’s corporate tech giants don’t want to share a single cent with a human. Instead, they are actively feeding decades of human musical history—every blues riff, every jazz chord progression, every soulful vocal track ever recorded—into generative AI models.
Once that algorithm is fully trained on real human sweat, blood, and tears, the tech executive doesn’t need to book a studio. They don’t need to hire a band. They just turn to an AI colleague and say: “Generate 10 hours of standard blues in C minor for a relaxing evening playlist.”
Wake Up and Buy the Record
The previous parts in this series is to be found here:
1. Kill the music…
2. It’s all up to you.
3. The Musician’s Gamble: An Unfiltered Slice of Reality
4. 4. A record contract is not a payday—it is a financial death trap.