🎶 AI Lawsuits, Inorganic Streaming & 6 Rock-Solid Songs That Don’t Suck

Welcome back to Songs That Don’t Suck—the podcast that filters through the week’s musical landfill so you don’t have to 🎧. Mark Bradbourne is back, sifting through hundreds of songs, celebrating the power of human-made music, and shining a light on some genuinely killer tracks this week.

Before the playlists? Some heavy thoughts on the future of music and creativity itself.

🧠 AI Music Lawsuits: About Time or Just Corporate Posturing?

The RIAA (on behalf of Universal, Warner, and Sony) is officially suing AI music generators SUNO and UDO for “indiscriminately pillaging” decades of copyrighted material. In Mark’s words:

“AI doesn’t generate—it matches. It’s mashups of patterns from real musicians who weren’t compensated.”

These AI tools admit they need massive amounts of high-quality music to train. Yet they argue it falls under fair use. 🤨

Mark’s take? This isn’t about protecting artists—it’s about the major labels wanting to own the AI pipelines and get paid. Because, let’s be honest, nobody does nothing for free.

🎧 Spotify vs. Inorganic Streaming: Finally, a Good Move

Spotify’s asking artists to stop encouraging fans to game the system by looping their music 24/7 or using bots. Why? Because it dilutes royalty pools for legit plays.

“Spotify doesn’t get everything right. But this is a step in the right direction.”
— Mark Bradbourne

Still salty about the Spotify CEO claiming music creation is “easy”? Mark’s got words for him too. Spoiler: they’re not flattering.

📣 Podcast Plug: Rock Talk Studio

Shoutout to Big Rick and his podcast Rock Talk Studio—your go-to for rock book and documentary reviews. It’s like having your own personal curator for your reading and watching list.

🎶 This Week’s Songs That Don’t Suck

🇬🇧 1. “National Treasure” – Barnes Courtney

Big stomp-and-holler vibes, gritty acoustic guitars, and a voice that can snarl and soar. Barnes continues to impress following his track Young in America. Mark says a new album feels imminent—and based on this, it’s gonna be a heater.

🚀 2. “Thunder Lights on the Greatest Sky” – Black Rainbows

Crushing riffs. Psychedelic vibes. Ozzy-like vocals. The Italian band channels the best parts of Sabbath without being a copycat. If you like your rock fuzzy, slow-burning, and atmospheric, you’re in for a treat.

🧊 3. “Solid Gold” – Nuns of the Tundra

🤘 Band name: 10/10
🔥 Musicianship: Even better
Stoner rock meets alt-grunge with funky odd time signatures, soaring choruses, and incredible syncopation. This one’s Mark’s favorite find of the week.

🦅 4. “What You Want to Hear” – The Messenger Birds

Think: Black Keys setup, Detroit garage grit. This one’s a few years old, but Mark says it still punches like new. Great groove, minimal setup, massive sound.

💀 5. “Tax on Death” – Middle Class Rut

Throwback find from 2020, but it still rips. Unfortunately, MCR is no more—but that voice, that energy? It lives on…

💣 6. “Bad Blood” – Zac Lopez & the Cartel

…because Zac Lopez is keeping the sound alive. Raw guitars, anthemic energy, and one of the most distinctive rock voices Mark’s heard this year.

🧠 Weekly Takeaway:

You don’t need AI to make music that matters. All it takes is heart, craft, and occasionally, a fuzz pedal and some odd time signatures.

🔊 …and I quote…

❝AI doesn’t create—it regurgitates. Music made by humans still wins, because we have something to say.❞
— Mark Bradbourne, Songs That Don’t Suck