When AI Writes Code and Makes Music, What's Left for Humans?

When AI Writes Code and Makes Music, What's Left for Humans?

From Trapital by Dan Runcie

June 9, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

The episode explores the implications of AI in music creation and the future of human creators.

AI keeps getting called music's biggest threat. Or its biggest opportunity. Both framings miss the point. The real question is harder: if AI can handle the cognitive work, what's left that actually matters? We're joined by Jessica Powell, CEO and co-founder of AudioShake, to figure that out. We talked about why experienced practitioners get the most out of AI, what happens to the creators caught in the middle, and whether "AI-generated" is already a useless label. We also break down how AudioShake works — not generative AI, but subtractive stem separation and why physical media and community could be music's quiet hedge against digital abundance. CHAPTERS 04:53 Music vs. Code 07:46 Taste and Differentiation 14:27 Should We Label AI Music? 17:41 How AudioShake Works 26:23 Vibe Coding, Jobs, and Disruption SUMMIT Get your Trapital Summit tickets here SPONSORS Chartmetric: Listen in for our Stat of the Week Symphonic: Distribute your music to one of the largest networks in the industry. Symphonic delivers your music to over 200 digital service providers ensuring that you’re monetizing every stream and use of your music on Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, and more TRAPITAL Where technology…

People in this episode

Host: Dan Runcie

Guest: Jessica Powell

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Sponsors

Chartmetric, Symphonic

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AudioShake

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