Streaming platform Spotify unveils verification plan in response to AI music boom. (The Guardian)
On Thursday, Spotify announced plans to implement a verification system designed to distinguish human artists from those generated by artificial intelligence, as streaming platforms address a significant increase in synthetic music uploads.
The initiative, titled “Verified by Spotify,” was announced in a company blog post on April 30. It will apply a visible marker to artist pages that meet criteria demonstrating authentic creative activity. Spotify will begin rolling out the scheme in the coming weeks and has stated that over 99% of artists will be verified at launch.
The badge will be displayed on artists’ profiles, provided they meet “Spotify’s criteria for authenticity and trust,” as well as consistent listener activity and engagement over time. Artists must also be in good standing with the company’s platform policies. “In the AI era, it’s more important than ever to be able to trust the authenticity of the music you listen to,” said Spotify.
The move reflects mounting concern regarding a sharp rise in AI-generated music hitting streaming platforms. In a study published in November 2025, Deezer reported that roughly 50,000 AI-generated songs are uploaded every day, accounting for 34% of the platform’s total daily uploads. Deezer have also recently introduced a tool that detects AI songs and excludes them from editorial recommendations.
The reactions to the announcement have been mixed. Ed-Newton Rex, CEO of Fairly Trained and a former AI executive, criticised the move on X, saying, “It risks punishing human artists who don’t have the markers the verification is based on, like concerts or merchandise”. He added, “Why is Spotify so reluctant to take real action on AI music?”
The announcement follows a series of high-profile cases in which AI-generated songs have mimicked established artists. One such case occurred in 2025 with Sheffield folk artist Emily Portman, when an AI-generated album was released under her name without her knowledge or consent.
The move signals a shift in how streaming platforms respond to AI, though its long-term impact on artists and audiences remains to be seen.
‘Verified by Spotify’: The possible undoing of rising artists
Spotify’s recent unveiling of its “Verified by Spotify” scheme has unearthed many deep-rooted concerns within the music industry amidst the AI boom.
With artificial intelligence increasingly integrated into our daily lives, it was only a matter of time before it began to influence the music industry. And whilst AI as an assistive tool can be very beneficial to musicians, the generative side is much more frightening. Upcoming artists are no longer just battling other artists to make it, they are now having to fight against AI that can pump out dozens of songs in minutes, and in an already cut-throat industry, this could spell disaster for younger generations of musicians.
With Spotify’s most recent campaign, many questions have arisen, especially regarding their policies and criteria. Spotify has said that only artists with 10,000+ monthly listeners will receive their verification badge, a number that many smaller artists are struggling to reach in an ever-more competitive industry. By doing this, Spotify is undermining the hard work of these creators and possibly even mixing them in with AI, since these smaller musicians have no way to be distinguished from their AI counterparts.
Spotify’s most recent campaign is certainly a response to the issues AI is causing within the music industry, but is it a good response? On one level, it offers a clear distinction between real artists and AI and provides clarity and reassurance to both listeners and the industry that work has been done to counteract the damage AI has caused to artists’ credibility and to protect artists’ rights. Yet from my point of view, it is merely a reactive measure that addresses the surface issues of AI, such as copyright and royalties, but not the deeper issues, especially those concerning smaller artists. Spotify has already been embroiled in numerous controversies over its treatment of small artists. In 2024, they introduced a policy that stopped paying royalties on tracks with fewer than 1,000 annual streams, which at the time affected 86% of music on the platform, leading many to argue that Spotify are once again showing clear favouritism towards major artists.
Looking ahead, the question isn’t whether the AI trend will continue, but how it will be managed. Measures such as ‘Verified by Spotify’ may become common, but they cannot stand alone without undermining the rights of smaller artists. Policies like this one will push smaller artists out of the algorithm if they are not established, arguably making it harder and harder to break out on a streaming platform that is already heavily oversaturated.
Ultimately, this debate isn’t just about AI music. If smaller artists aren’t protected and are bunched in with AI through schemes like these, it could cause irreversible damage to the music industry.
Kat Carter: Leeds, Angst and Sound. (DIY Magazine)
There’s a moment in our conversation where Leeds artist Kat Carter pauses mid-thought, laughs slightly, and admits that part of making now is simply seeing “how bold” she can be.
It’s an answer that seems to sum her up perfectly.
Still in the early stages of her career, Carter exists somewhere between soulful R&B songwriting, punk, and complete creative experimentation. One minute she’s talking about distorted textures and “female angst”; the next she’s describing the pressure young artists face to become permanent online personalities rather than simply being musicians.
“I don’t need to be famous,” she says plainly. “I just need to make music.”
In many ways, Carter feels representative of a growing wave of younger artists rejecting perfectionism in favour of honesty. Based in Leeds and surrounded by one of the UK’s most collaborative underground scenes, she’s building a sound shaped equally by grunge gig culture, hip-hop production, emotional vulnerability, and a refusal to fit neatly into genre expectations.
Kat’s journey as an artist began shortly after college, when many people around her were deciding on Universities and career paths. Initially drawn towards songwriting, Kat says the decision slowly evolved from casual interest into something more personal.
“If I want to do this, I actually have to do it myself”
This realisation came after she left University, and without the safety net of education to fall back on, the responsibility of pursuing music became entirely her own. Yet, rather than waiting for opportunities, Kat took a strong initiative and began teaching herself production while experimenting with different styles and sounds. “The chill part of how I feel, with the angst of what I feel.” This tension between softness and aggression appears central to Kat’s creative identity.
Speaking on her creative process, Kat frames her songwriting as instinctive and deeply personal.
“My emotions are a 10. Never below”
Her emotional openness is a major influence on her lyric writing, as Kat describes channelling everything into her songs and her messy, fluid creativity. In her own words, her day-to-day creative process depends heavily on her emotions, and most of her concepts begin with an emotion or a situation she is facing. Kat states, “One project will stay on my mind until I’ve completely run out of flow with it,” showing how her level of emotion works in almost perfect tandem with her workflow.
Kat credits the Leeds scene as a major influence in her musical journey, expressing how the city’s collaborative atmosphere has made her feel welcome “People are doing different genres, different ideas, creating different spaces.” This aspect of Leeds’ flourishing music scene has positively impacted her willingness to experiment creatively, and Kat credits the scene for breaking down barriers on how music should look, reinforcing the genre-fluid nature of both her music and the wider Leeds scene “It makes me feel like I can mix whatever I want and work with whoever I want.”
It’s no secret that in today’s landscape, artists are no longer expected to be just that, an artist. We live in an age controlled by social media, and artists must keep up with the times or risk being swept away. Pressure is constantly mounting on younger artists to maintain a strong social media presence. “People keep telling me you need to post every day, multiple times a day. That’s just not me,” said Kat, as she follows up with concerns about prioritising creativity over branding.
“If it takes away from actually making music, then I’m not going to do it”, Kat proclaims, reinforcing her idea that her main focus will always be on music and that she will sacrifice her online visibility if it begins to affect her creative flow negatively and that she doesn’t want to succumb to modern music culture and lose the authenticity of her music in place of her media presence “If it takes away from the music, or if you’re making music for the wrong reasons, I think people can tell.”
Kat’s artistic ambitions are broad, but she remains strong in her convictions. She expresses her aspiration to connect with her audience and to be emotionally honest in her songwriting. She spoke to me about wanting her audience to relate to her lyrics: “Actually, I feel that I relate to that.” But her ultimate goal is, “If I could make somebody dance, that would be sick.”
In her closing words, Kat reestablishes her commitment to authenticity and her desire to break through the norm: “If I start making music just to sound popular, something has gone wrong.” Kat’s desire to stay true to herself as an artist is inspirational and a true testament to herself.
Album Review: Paracosm by Absolutely (Pitchfork)
Absolutely’s most recent kaleidoscopic affair, ‘Paracosm’, beautifully blends reality with intense fantasy, showcasing a unique, slightly surreal artist identity. Her use of elements of R&B, industrial pop, and cinematic influences, alongside her soaring vocals and lyricism, perfectly captures the concept of the album, a Paracosm. Absolutely doesn’t just write songs – she constructs a private universe, one that feels suspended somewhere between childhood imagination and the uncertainties of adulthood.
A Paracosm is a detailed, complex, and often secretive imaginary world created in a person’s mind, most typically in childhood and is often maintained into adulthood, something that Absolutely is able to capture the feeling of in a mysteriously comforting and beautiful way. Bouncing off the release of her first album ‘CEREBUM’, Absolutely’s evolution as not just an artist but as a person is very clear to see and hear as she taps into vulnerable themes in her most intimate, yet captivating piece of work to date.
Paracosm indulges in a diverse sonic palette. Sonically, the record leans into scale. Arrangements swell and stretch outward, layering soft piano with ambient textures and orchestral flourishes that coalesce into something deliberately oversized. The track ‘No Audience’ is a perfect example of this. The song opens with a beautiful arrangement of cinematic and expansive strings, complemented by vocals that dissolve into the arrangement, making it hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The song then settles into a gentle waltz with a lone electric piano, threaded with vocal stabs and a subtle yet captivating 6/4 rise into the second half of the verse, and flawlessly flows into the chorus, which opens with a booming kick and reverbed strings that work beautifully in conjunction with Absolutely’s voice and flow.
Absolutely creates a beautiful contrast between the album’s grand, almost theatrical production and preoccupied feelings of doubt, vulnerability, and a lingering sense of not belonging. The title track, ‘Paracosm’, captures all these elements beautifully. Absolutely sings about the feeling of being small in such a large world, and the struggles of feeling like you’re falling behind: “The people are walking, I’m learning to crawl”. The dreamy, almost hopeful instrumental, which contrasts with the lyrical themes of raw vulnerability, perfectly encapsulates the album’s title.
However, Paracosm’s devotion to its concept and themes occasionally comes at the expense of distinction. Whilst the album’s opening remains immersive, its refusal to disrupt that atmosphere makes the middle stretch feel indistinct, with songs bleeding into one another rather than asserting their own identities.
Absolutely treats atmosphere not as decoration, but as structure, building songs that drift, dissolve and reassemble in slow motion. And whilst this may be the album’s undoing in certain places, it feels less like a flaw than part of the world it is trying to create.
INTERVIEW WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT
Oliver – Hi. This is Oliver Sullivan, and I’m here in Leeds with Kat Carter, a local songwriting artist. The day is the first of May 2026, and I’m recording this interview for a journalism assignment. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Kat. Do you want to start by introducing yourself and your work?
Kat- Yeah, thank you for having me. I’m Lillian. My artist name is Kat Carter, and yeah, I’m in Leeds at the minute, producing my own beats, just starting with that. And I write my own lyrics and sing them.
Oliver – So when did you realise that you first wanted to become an artist?
Kat – I think when I was leaving college, it was kind of people picking universities. So I started looking, and I thought, oh, songwriting sounds really cool. Then I think maybe as I was doing that, I was like, Oh, hold on, actually I do want to like write my own songs and do this. But then when I was going about that in university for foundation year, then when I left uni, I was like, oh, it’s like, it’s actually on me. Like, if I want to do this, I actually have to do it myself. And then I think that’s what I realised I actually want to be, what I actually want to do, yeah.
Oliver – And in terms of your style as an artist, how do you describe him? What would you say drew you to that particular style?
Kat – I think I’m interested by R and B music, like soulful voices, like soulful chords, and I love like a hip hop beat. I think my music style is still taking shape, because I am a beginner, but it’s kind of off-putting sometimes, like a weird little jarring sound. I feel like to me, that’s a good thing. It might not be to other people, but that’s maybe how I describe it.
Oliver – So when you come back to the hip hop part, though, a lot of hip hop is loops and samples. And, you know, I can understand why people would see that as jarring, but I guess, in terms of your creative direction, is that something that you tend to focus on?
Kat – At the minute, I’m just trying to find the loop, and then I’m kind of adding and taking away. I think, I think kind of what’s, what’s jarring about it. Sometimes it’s also like, the notes I use, I like, I like a note that’s like eughh. could be nice or really bad, yeah,
Oliver – And would you say that kind of upbringing, your background, has influenced that style as well?
Kat – Oh, I that’s hard to say, because my, my dad gave me this, like an iPad, like one, like the first, like the chunky, chunky one and I went through the other day and I thought, there’s Michael Jackson in here. There’s be good 10 years, there’s Beatles, there’s Coldplay xx ambassadors. Like so much stuff. So probably, yeah, because of all the different things I’ve listened to, but probably Leeds has influenced it a lot, maybe like with the grungier kind of sounds, yeah.
Oliver – yeah. I mean, I think Leeds has definitely become known for its punk grunge scene over the years. I mean, obviously both of us, you know, attended college in Leeds, and we were both, you know, regular in the lead scene and attending a lot of local gigs, and they were heavily, it’s like, your scream or your hardcore punk. So, I mean, i get what you said that that’s had a particular influence in terms of the way that you approach music now,
Kat – Definitely because I’m, like, going to these, to these gigs, I’m seeing, like the energy in the room, like I love that I love like seeing what they’re doing on stage, and just like the grungy sound. But then the other side, my music taste is is like R&B, really chilled out. So I think trying to put them together, that’s been really fun, and it’s kind of what I’m aiming for.
Oliver – Yeah, that uniqueness of you’re taking these two genres, I guess, are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. I mean, you take R and B and it’s very soft, soulful, clean guitars, and then you look at the other end of the spectrum, which is your punk, your grunge, which is angsty, heavily distorted guitars, lots of fuzz, lots of not aggression, but energy and jumping around. So, I mean, I think that’s awesome, that you’re trying to blend those two styles. That’s really cool.
Kat – Thank you so much the chill, the chill part of how I feel, with the angst of what I feel, that’s why I want like, yeah,
Oliver – So what’s a typical day look like for you when you’re creating music.
Kat – A typical day can be a little messy, but a typical day is going how I want it to is I’ll, I’ll wake up my full day routine. I’ll wake up. I’ll wash my face. I’ll do a little meditation, because that is such a so hard for me. I can’t like do do that pretty much. Then I’ll do a little workout. When I say that workout is three minutes
Yeah, and then yeah, I’ll just, like, I’ll lock in for like, if I go, like, flow with it, then I’ll just go for as long as I can. If I’m not kind of flowing with it, I’ll do like, 20 minutes, then I need to take a break, and I’ll do that cycle again, like, as long as I can go or 20 minutes, take a break in my breaks off, maybe like, read or like, go for Little wander or something like that. But yeah, it’ll be one project on my mind on a day until I’ve run out of flow with that project, then I’ll move on to a different one.
Oliver – So where do your ideas normally come from?
Kat – Lyrics is what’s going on, like, day to day life that I’m not usually short of lyrics because I’m a very I’m sometimes I’m short of lyrics that I like, but I’m never short of lyrics because I’m I have my emotions are a 10. They’re never below, yeah? So if something’s going on,It is going on in my head. Yeah, so I’ve got a lot to write about that. Got a lot going on there with beats. It’s, it’s harder because I’ve started more recently with that. Maybe I’ll find a really cool beat that I like, and I’ll try put that in and see what, what way that’s going or I’ll think what like field or I want right now, and I’ll put in some chords that kind of go with that. And, yeah,
yeah.
Oliver – So like when you’re in the writing process, do you normally have a clear concept to start with, or do you start with the very basic idea, and then the work just evolves as you move on?
Kat- It’s usually 50/50. Sometimes, I’ll go, what, what am I feeling today? I’ll start writing it, and then I go, Whoa, okay, I’m feeling a lot today, like this is a situation that is bugging me. I need to write it down, as in, start, middle, end. That’s harder, because you have to put like, limits on the time, and I have to not bullshit,
Oliver – What would you say is probably the most challenging part of the creative process for you?
Kat – accepting that it’s going to be a bit shit, just accepting that it’s going to be a bit crap, because I’m a beginner, and that’s fine. It’s got to be bad before it gets better. And it’s this gig that’s coming up, and it’s, I know it’s not going to be what I want it to be fully because it’s not gonna be perfect, but that’s okay, do it and then progress from there.
Oliver – Yeah, and in terms of you mentioned, you’ve got this gig on how have you found the gigging scene in Leeds?
Kat – So far,I’ve only done so before this. I’ve done I’ve done one of the gig singing my songs. Before that, it’s been playing bass and stuff like that. Playing bass has been, like, really fun, like, super chill. Playing on or, like, singing on my own is more I find it hard to keep myself awake the gigs, even leads So I work as a gig rep, or, like, a box office person as well. That’s really cool. Yeah, to meet other people. Everyone’s like, everyone’s nice and chill. Like, up for a chat. Everyone’s up to, like, help you out in some way. If you know me, though, they’ll chat to you about what you’re doing. Like, how’s that going? Yeah, yeah. Just, just doing it on my own is completely different, because it’s all on me, and I have to keep myself completely accountable.
Yeah, hard to keep accountable, I think,
yeah, yeah.
Oliver – Would you say that’s been a smooth transition? going from bass player to, I guess, to up front, I guess, as a bass player, you’re kind of sat behind the scenes a little bit, to obviously being a solo artist, you’re now front and centre of well, everything that you’re doing. So, has that been a smooth transition or been difficult?
Kat- I could probably answer this better after my next gig, but I think it’s been like fairly smooth so far, because I’ve got the idea in my head what I want to do. So yeah, it’s not been a lot of faffing, faffing, faffing. But it’s also been, like, It’s been stressful. I think it’s been more stressful than it needs to be, because I am, I am awkward, I am an introvert, yeah? Like, chatting to people I struggle with, like, a one to one conversation. So, yeah, we’re getting there.
Oliver – So how would you describe the creative scene in Leeds at the current moment?
Kat – I think at the current moment I’m not as in it as I’d like to be but I think it’s very collaborative. People are doing different things, different genres, different ideas, different spaces that people are wanting. I think it’s friendly, I think it’s like welcoming from my experience, I can’t speak for others experience, I think it’s a lot of people wanting to help you out.
Oliver – Yeah and going back to something we spoke about previously, when you were mentioning with your music how you’re kind of merging different sides of the Leeds scene, would you say like in general you see that kind of collaboration between these two very polar opposite ends of the music spectrum working together within the community?
Kat – I definitely think so, different people, for example a gig I worked at last night there was this one guy who had broken his wrist two weeks ago, another guitarist steps in, you can get that from a jazz student will step in or a grunge band kind of thing and the gig I’m doing in a few weeks time, it’s going to be me which is kind of maybe more towards the R&B side of things than there’s a bunch of rock artists, which is really cool because then we can all collaborate and kind of do that thing. And I think I went to the… Oh my gosh, I’m going to get the name wrong. I think it’s like Leeds Music Us. Yeah. Or Music Leeds Us, like that exhibition. And I got to go to a panel where there was a woman talking called Susie. from Love Conquers Clubland and she put on Speed Queen and she was talking about the music scene in Leeds with everybody and what I got from them which I completely agree with is like it’s DIY it’s collaborative everyone just gets stuck in with anything and like people who were here like just because they like love it and want to be here yeah yeah I like that
Oliver – Yeah, and would you say that being based in Leeds and surrounded by that community and I guess that collaboration and camaraderie between musicians who normally wouldn’t expect to be working together, would you say that that has a lot of influence in your work?
Kat – Definitely because it takes away the barriers of, oh it has to look this way or you have to sit there. It just makes me think I can do anything. I can just mix whatever I fancy. I can ask any, if there’s any musician that I want to collaborate with, I can without there being barriers of genre. Yeah. And are there any local artists or spaces that have stood out to you, would you say? I went to a Hip Hop Express event And I loved that because it was dancing, it was poetry, it was rap, it was singing, it was a lot of it, that production. That was awesome because it was all of the different mediums that you could want. From there, I spent a little bit of time with people from Wabula Studios. Those guys are super cool. They’re giving me so much advice and opportunities to sing on beats or to learn how to make beats. obviously I’ve got a soft spot for like Warf Chambers and stuff like that because that’s just like lovely. Yeah. It’s a nice community going on there. And 360 gigs because that’s where, that’s probably where I get most of my like interaction with musical people because if I’m working with bands or if I’m on Box Office or something like that then I could just speak to anybody.
Oliver- Yeah. And would you say that if you were obviously being a leads based artist would you say that in terms of when people looking at the lead scene from outside of the city would you say that there are any like misinterpretations that people have or anything that people tend to misunderstand about Leeds?
Kat – Maybe genre wise maybe because everywhere’s got like a stereotype or this is what’s coming out of the city I think that’s I think there’s a bit of everything in these and when I went to the museum that the exhibition that’s up at the minute, if that’s what it’s called, there was just like proof of everything’s on like soul, jazz, rap, mixing different like mediums together so I think definitely genre because I think we’ve got a bit of everything here and also Maybe, you know like the stereotype of down south people aren’t going to say hi to you in the street, up here they will. I think half of me is like, it depends who you talk to, there’s a lot of people who won’t, but I also think that is something that is kind of true, people will just talk to each other and yeah, people just want to make music with each other. So I think that’s a misconception and also true. Because I can see the truth in it. Yeah. Definitely. And I was speaking to somebody last night who said that’s definitely her truth from coming from London. Yeah. But also, I do think maybe it’s a misconception that there’s a lot of… There’s people who aren’t fit with everywhere around there.
Oliver – Yeah, I mean, I’ve had run-in with artists in Leeds who are a bit too big for the boots. Right. And even at local gigs like Northern Guitars where they very much think that they own the place. And fair enough. Some of them have gone on to do quite well. But I think in general, from a lot of the artists and bands that I’ve spoken to, in my own personal experience, I definitely get that. know nine times out of ten they’re very friendly welcoming they want to talk about the music they want to discuss your interest and your likes as well as theirs um so i think leeds as a music scene is probably the most inviting scene that i’ve been a part of I hear that as well. It’s finding people that have got the balance of like having confidence in themselves to put it out but then like when does it get like too big? Yeah. Yeah. What would you say has been a big turning point in your artistic career so far?
Kat – Leaving uni and being like actually I think I mentioned this earlier in the interview but being like this is on my back if you’re going to make music you’re going to make music yeah probably doing that and then still having deadlines of this like a gig coming up so it’s like Yeah, working with deadlines. Yeah? Yeah. And how do you tend to balance the creative side and the creative aspects of your career with the more, like, I guess, professional side of things? Trying to find a balance between obviously working on the music itself, which most people would agree is the funniest bit, but then also having to, especially in our generation now, having to focus on the media side and the promotional side and I guess the consistency of having a social presence. How would you say you tend to try and balance that? Badly, just badly. People, so many people who I’ve spoken to, I’m getting so much advice off of people, which I will absorb. I will absorb it for days. But the bit of advice I’m struggling with is that you need posts every day. You need posts several times a day. That’s not me. I don’t know if it’s ever going to be me. The amount of posts I’ve got at the minute, which is what, like seven posts? That’s been a struggle. So definitely quite badly. And I think probably the way I’ve… Promoting my gig most is just word of mouth. Yeah, but it’s what I need to be good at.
Oliver- Yeah Yeah, and sort of bouncing off that Is that kind of stuff ever made you doubt the path of an artist?
Kat – I guess the the pressures of you know being this social media presence and Again, as I mentioned just then having that constant you know, outgoing of media that’s, you know, obviously always going to be there to see. I mean, has that ever caused you any doubt that this is what you want to do? And if so, how have you sort of overcome that and dealt with that? Um, honestly, I I don’t feel that pressure at all. I’m not depending on this for money. I don’t… I don’t, like, need to be on stage. I don’t need to be famous. I don’t need a massive audience. Like, I need to make music, so I’m going to do that. And, like, I was… I was, like, thinking about it last night. The actual reason why I’m doing this is I’m just, like… The only reason I’m posting it and the only reason why I’m, like… like playing it to people is probably part because when I was like when I was younger my parents put me music but if you do music you have to get up on stage and do it and I’m thinking oh my gosh that’s that’s crazy I don’t want to do that but like I did so maybe it’s partly that but also now I’m just kind of curious of like how bold can I how bold can I be like we’re like like wouldn’t be crazy if you got on stage and did that’s like yeah that’d be kind of crazy yeah yeah let’s see what’s going on but yeah so I don’t depend on money I’m lucky I’ve got passion in like a line of work that’s also going to bring in money, hopefully, at this job. So yeah, I’m not pressured to… The thing with social media, I’m not going to start posting every single day realistically because I don’t really want to, but I want to carry on making music. I’ll post stuff, but if it’s going to take away from me making music, I’m not going to do it. Yeah. And when you say…
Oliver – From your perspective, would you say that you can see a lot of younger artists and how they would succumb to that pressure of being constantly active on social media? Because I guess in a lot of ways, from my perspective, it almost feels like being a musician now, being a musician is only 10% of the actual job role. It’s very much been overcome by social media and I guess this online persona that you have to portray and I know from what the way I look at things I can see a lot of younger artists who have exited the music scene because they’re finding that To be a musician, they can’t just be a musician anymore. They have to be their own promoter, their own media manager, all these different things. So would you say that is definitely a pressure that you would see a lot of people in the industry succumbing to?
Kat – Yeah, yeah, for sure, because everything is kind of online and it’s kind of like if you didn’t post the buy-in, it didn’t happen kind of thing. There’s so many, I think in good and bad ways, but there’s so many communities online and you can reach so many people online. So I can definitely see that because you kind of do have the world at your fingertips. And yeah, because everybody’s also doing it, so I can see the pressure to like cut your way in there. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, but I think it’s… I think it’s good and bad because you can reach anybody, you can come up with these communities but if it takes away from making the music, or if you’re doing the music for a different reason then I don’t know, I think that’s going to show. Yeah, definitely. And what would you say so far, taking all that into account, is the biggest lesson that you’ve had to learn as an artist up until this point?
Probably what I need to learn as a person is kind of just like self-discipline and just like lock it in. It’s like, if you want to do it, you actually have to do it. Like no one else is going to tell me to do it. Yeah. I’ve actually just got to do it myself. Yeah. So that and probably also being, being stubborn. All of the stuff that I really enjoy doing, I like, I like managing like my stuff. I like doing the music. I like the idea of, I don’t know, of, I like the idea of accomplishing a lot of what I want to do. Yeah. But I think being like stubborn and I need to be better at like branching out and like being part of like creating and like having like a team and stuff like that.
Oliver – Yeah. Yeah. And then sort of like moving on to, you know, your audience and meaning behind a lot of your music. What would you hope that people take away from your work?
Kat – For the gig I lasted, for gig number one, I think they’d probably take away more like, there was this one song specifically and it was so just like, it was just pure like angst and just like female rage and I think from that people, I think probably women especially, would hear that and they’d be like, actually I feel that, I relate to that and maybe maybe take away from that, maybe having a safe space, but that’s kind of what I want to, not, I don’t want to stray away from having a safe space. I want to stray away from having so much like angry music. I want to have more of like some, something where people can feel more positively. Yeah. Um, and yeah, happy. My goal is to be able to make music where people can be super chilled out with, but also have, I, if I can make somebody dance, that’d be sick. Yeah. That’d be so cool. Yeah. Yeah. And following from that question, do you think art, in particular music, should have an inherent message? Or would you say it’s more about interpretation? I think if it’s got a message, for example, that song I was just talking about, that was kind of like family rage. That’s my experience. People might relate to it, but from their experience. So I guess this is always like interpretation with it. I like music with a message. but that’s because I like thinking about, I like being able to think about the lyrics, whether it has to have a message. I think it’s just music though, it’s just like creativity, the beauty of it is you can do whatever you want. My preference is I like a message, but then if it’s not got a good beat to it, then I’m losing it. Yeah, I think it’s preference.
Oliver – Yeah, and then just a few closing questions. Would you have any advice, especially from the perspective of a beginner, for people who are wanting to make that leap into music but aren’t quite sure where to start out with it?
Kat – Probably just doing it. I think I’ve, me personally, that starting off is the hard bit. Do you know what I mean? Once I get to a slow bit, I can do it. Yeah. We’ll find out on the gig. We can see if I can do it. But like, starting off, starting off is kind of the hardest bit. But also probably, like, like, I’m trying to worry about this because it could come out very cringy and it might, but just like, look after yourself first. Like, if you can’t, I mean some really good music does come from like people who aren’t okay, but if you’re not Like me personally if I’m not okay, I’m not gonna be consistent. Yeah, if I’m not like I yeah, I go for the whole, if I’m doing a little bit of one bad habit, I’m going to do all the bad habits, which means I’m not going to, like, create that kind of thing. So, yeah, I think just, like, looking after yourself and just doing it.
Oliver – Yeah? Yeah. And if there’s anything that you could change about the music industry, what would it be? If there’s anything I could change about the music industry?
Kat – Well, pay probably i’ve not even discovered this yet but like what i’m hearing about other people is that spotify streams yeah everybody’s on spotify moving from spotify is like a whole task um so probably that also i just think having i want to say like more spaces for like where everyone can get together or where for certain people where they want those spaces and it’s either that they There needs, no, I think there needs to be more of them. But I also think there’s a level of, I’ve just not found them yet. Yeah. That kind of thing. So, yeah, I think more, more like weirdness, more like weirdness, less like, I think that about life though, do you know what I mean? Yeah. Everyone has to be like normal, like, I think there needs to be like proper weird stuff.
Oliver – Yeah. And then, just the final question, I guess. If you were looking a lot further down the line towards more the end of your career, how would you want to be remembered as an artist?
Kat – I’d love to make somebody dance. I’d love to make somebody properly dance. That would be so cool. Yeah. Probably… Whatever happens, just completely… just did my thing. It’ll, oh my gosh, if anybody goes, oh, like, you’ve gone, your music’s sounding so, like, so, like, mainstream, that’s one thing. If genuinely I’m making music and it sounds mainstream, like, cool, but if it’s like, oh, I need to sound like this to, like, get popular, just put a bully in my head because something has gone wrong. Like, I’m not, it’s not going right anymore. Yeah, just, like, always enjoying it. always like just being fully honest and I would like to be able to like be part of or create or like foster just a really cool space. Anybody can be part of it but it’s like a really cool space and oh there was something else I was going to say. Probably making like where the world is right now is kind of crazy. I’m not going to like get into it and like in your interview, but like being a good part of that, I’m not saying like change people’s minds. I’m not saying like do this and that because of this things like I can’t speak, like speak on this, but just, just to be like, not to be, Is complacent the word I’m looking for? Yeah. Complacent, is that one? Yeah, yeah. Not to be, like, complacent, not to be destructive, but also make, like, I don’t know, be part of, like, the doing good. Yeah. Yeah, maybe that.
Oliver – Yeah, and I mean, you look at history and any major event in history, especially if more modern history has music tied to it, I mean… probably the biggest example I can think of is the Vietnam War, when that was happening and you saw these bands of artists coming together and creating these big communities and spaces for not always like-minded individuals, you know, people who were just there for the music, there were people who were there for the message, for protest, for lots of reasons, but would you say that’s something that resonates a lot with you, is building that space and being able to encompass all different demographics of people?
Kat – Yeah, definitely, I think, I think there’s so much to take from history and how people have done things in the past to make moves. But I think there’s, I think there is a new space coming up and I think there needs to be a new space coming up where people can do this more in more of like a, I don’t know, ’cause, what’s the word I’m looking for? In more of like a, not like forceful but like shit is kind of dire do you know what I mean like unless of like a I don’t know just like actually like doing our own thing and if that’s not what is allowed it doesn’t matter that’s what’s gonna happen yeah i mean yeah definitely maybe maybe we’ll negotiate this no that’s what’s gonna happen yeah yeah yeah i don’t know if i made sense.
Oliver – It made sense yeah um yeah that’s about it so thank you very much for letting me talk to you with my questions.
Oliver & Kat- Yeah, thank you for asking the question. It’s like journaling, but out loud. Yeah. And yeah, good luck for your upcoming gig. Thank you. And any other projects that you’re currently planning or in the process of making. Thank you. Yeah. Might need it. We all do sometimes.
