HUNDREDTH - Somewhere Nowhere (Oct 9, 2020) Album • Page 10

I'd love to hear your suggestions for environmentally friendly alternatives. Also, curious... why are we getting emotionally invested in the impact of this music video if it's supposedly irrelevant?

 

Who's the "we" here?

There are alternatives. Use concert footage. Get the band together and make a video in somebody's back yard. Just because you want to make a big-budget video doesn't mean that you should.

 

All music technology throughout history has faced pushback. Magnetism itself was once considered blasphemous, yet it became the foundation of analog recording. So no, I am not surprised by the reactions to AI. I expect them.

New tools always force us to reevaluate how we create and absorb art. Sampling music, even just using drum hits, was an ethical dilemma for me early on. But eventually, I learned to see them for what they are. Options and tools. You do not have to use them. Sometimes I do. And that is okay.

I actually enjoy talking about the contrasts and dilemmas surrounding AI in music. It reminds me of the Napster era and how Limp Bizkit chose to do the Napster tour for free. You could not stop that wave, and you cannot stop this one either. What matters now is how we engage with it. We need to explore it’s boundaries and push it into new creative spaces. That’s how we evolve. And like it or not, that evolution is happening with or without us.

 

By “we,” I mean anyone choosing to engage in this conversation with strong opinions about the video. If it’s truly irrelevant, why are we unpacking it this deeply?

I hear you on the alternatives. But the point of art is not always to do the cheapest or most conventional thing. It’s to explore ideas in new ways. This piece was made with intention, and whether someone likes it or not, it’s clearly sparked thought… which means it’s doing its job.

 

I'm not sure "it's happening whether we like it or not" is selling the concept very well.

At least sampling can be done ethically by actually crediting the original musician.

 

You’re only able to reference sampling being done “ethically” because we spent decades fighting over how to credit it. When sampling first showed up, it caused massive controversy and legal battles. It was not clear-cut or accepted. Now it’s just part of the toolkit. But that took time.

What you’re seeing now with AI is a textbook example of blitzscaling. That means the tech moves fast, breaks things, and legal frameworks scramble to catch up later. It’s how nearly every major business or technology shift has happened. Think of Napster, YouTube, Spotify, or even Uber.

I’m not saying “it’s happening whether we like it or not” as a sales pitch. I’m saying it as a reality check. We don’t get to hit pause just because it’s complicated. The only option is to understand it, challenge it, and help shape how it’s used. That’s the real work.

 

Unless I’m not understanding the scope of drum sample usage, deciding whether or not to use drum samples in your studio production does not present all of the same moral dilemmas as using AI to generate marketing tools. It is not a proportionate comparison

Not that this point was raised to me directly, but I do not believe music videos are irrelevant. However that has nothing to do with why any of this is being “unpacked”. It could be the album art. It could be the music itself. It could be a merch design, or any type of online interactive experience for fans to engage with. This conversation is happening because the use of AI in any form is contributing to and normalizing the degradation of our planet

The “reality check” makes sense for scenarios such as Jane getting laid off from her job 6 months ago and having to resort to AI to assist with constant resume restructuring just so she has a fighting chance of getting a job interview in our hellscape capitalistic job market and continuing to survive. For me, it makes less sense when Hundredth wants to use it to promote a song with images of a star shaped balloon

 

As someone who works on AI models and uses them for work, the art of prompt engineering is key in things like this. A creative vision needs to had and understood to guide the models to generate remotely relative pieces. Argue what you want on the environmental impacts of it, but with with most social medias now having canvas' attached to it for music, adding images does have a big impact on reach. For bands without deep pockets why not look into other means of creating art? I'd recommend people look at Dead Tempo Visions, one of my favorite accounts using AI art out there.

https://www.instagram.com/deadtempovisions/

 

Insinuating a balloon art video is trivial, then claiming it contributes to the degradation of the planet is a wild contrast.

Tech evolves, and artists use tools — that’s the fragile process of creativity. To bring personal ethics into this with that kind of stretch is missing the balloon for the trees.

Honestly, a star-shaped balloon AI video from a band that was once a hardcore band being the spark that destroys the world is kind of incredible. If a song and piece of visual art carry that much weight, maybe it deserves some appreciation.

 

Never once said that this band or video would be the sole impetus for destroying the planet, and I think you know that. Stay missing the point dude

 

Not going to wade into the AI debate (though I did read and found a lot of it interesting and gave me things to ponder about my own thoughts).

Love the new songs and hope that they take a more active presence in the music scene for a while - IE, touring and being more of an active band. I loved the old hardcore stuff, but people and tastes change, and I can vibe and appreciate the new songs as well.

 

I respect a band's right to make an AI music video, as long as they respect my right to not watch it because I think AI art looks dumb.

 

I haven’t listened to the song yet, let alone seen the video, but just wanted to throw some support to Alex Blackwell. I got tattooed by him when I was in Asheville a couple years ago before he moved. Very nice guy and probably an underrated part of the band if I had to guess. I know he was involved with a few other Asheville acts at the time, making various types of music. Just wanted to make sure he got some love.

 

Album Title = Faded Splendor. Excited for this.

 

Hundredth - Faded Splendor (May 16, 2025) • forum.chorus.fm