According to a new study from Luminate, U.S. consumer interest in listening to AI-assisted music declined across all age groups from when they were first surveyed in May 2025 to November 2025. The greatest decline comes from Gen Alpha and Gen Z in particular, falling from net -6% to -16% during that period.
Overall, U.S. listeners have had a net negative interest in listening to music if they knew it was produced using generative AI since they were first surveyed in May 2025, but that score became even more negative by the next time they were tallied in November. Millennials were the most open to listening to AI-assisted music, and Boomers constituted the group least likely to say they would feel positively about listening to AI-assisted music.
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Below is a breakdown of falling consumer interest in listening to AI-assisted music across age categories:
- General population:
- May 2025: -13%
- November 2025: -20%
- Gen Alpha + Gen Z
- May 2025: -6%
- November 2025: -16%
- Millennials
- May 2025: -1%
- November 2025: -7%
- Gen X
- May 2025: -16%
- November 2025: -24%
- Boomers
- May 2025: -34%
- November 2025: -38%
The latest November 2025 survey occurred right around the time that top music companies — including Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Merlin, Kobalt and more — and AI music firms like Suno, Udio and ElevenLabs’ Eleven Music, started to come together to forge AI licensing deals.
Luminate’s findings also note that while U.S. consumers are more likely to report negative sentiments toward AI use in musicmaking across all types of use — from instrumentals, lyrics or a totally new work — about a third of respondents can be described as ambivalent toward AI use.
Below is a breakdown of consumer comfort with AI in music creation:
- Song instrumentals
- Very comfortable: 10%
- Somewhat comfortable: 19%
- Indifferent: 30%
- Somewhat uncomfortable: 14%
- Very uncomfortable: 28%
- Song lyrics
- Very comfortable: 10%
- Somewhat comfortable: 16%
- Indifferent: 29%
- Somewhat uncomfortable: 16%
- Very uncomfortable: 29%
- A new original song composed by AI
- Very comfortable: 9%
- Somewhat comfortable: 15%
- Indifferent: 30%
- Somewhat uncomfortable: 14%
- Very uncomfortable: 32%
- A new original song performance by an AI voice
- Very comfortable: 9%
- Somewhat comfortable: 15%
- Indifferent: 27%
- Somewhat uncomfortable: 15%
- Very uncomfortable: 34%
- A new original song performed in the style or sound of a human artist
- Very comfortable: 9%
- Somewhat comfortable: 14%
- Indifferent: 27%
- Somewhat uncomfortable: 15%
- Very uncomfortable: 35%
The study from Luminate also tracks the rise of AI-assisted artists — like Xania Monet, Breaking Rust and Cain Walker — and the listenership for their songs over time. Luminate notes a spike in streaming consumption for certain AI-assisted projects around the time that Suno released v5 of its model (around September 2025), which improved song composition, audio quality and vocals. Luminate also details that often, AI-assisted artist projects quickly lose listenership after the initial spike in interest.
Often, AI-assisted artist projects spark controversial headlines, leading to an influx of interest in hearing the music, but the quick decline in the months afterward suggests that these songs are not retaining true fans long term. Monet, the AI project of Telisha “Nikki” Jones, which landed songs on Billboard‘s Adult R&B Airplay and Hot Gospel Songs charts, is the clearest example of this sharp decline. Luminate notes that her music had over 7 million total weekly streams in September 2025, but by March 2026, her total weekly streams decreased to below 3 million.
As music companies continue to resolve their lawsuits with AI companies like Suno and Udio and reach new licensing deals, those deals could have a significant impact on consumer sentiment and comfort with AI use in the music-making process — as could upgrades to these music models to make their outputs better resemble human artistry.
Still, based on the Luminate study, the lack of long-term interest in AI-assisted songs signals there will be challenges to forming true fandom around this work.
