Students at one of the world's most prestigious music schools are openly questioning whether their institution is preparing them for the future or teaching them how to become irrelevant. At Berklee College of Music in Boston, where tuition reaches $85,000 annually, a growing number of students are opposing the school's embrace of generative AI tools like Suno for music composition, arguing that learning to use these systems undermines their core mission to develop as artists .

What's Driving the Student Backlash at Berklee?

The tension erupted in March when Berklee promoted a course called "Bots and Beats: AI and the Future of Songwriting" on Instagram, with marketing copy that read: "Use realistic voice cloning and hear Drake or Grimes feature on your track." Though the elective had run for years, students opposed to AI said the promotional post was their first real awareness of it, and the reaction was swift and negative .

The concerns go beyond typical tech anxiety. Students worry that using AI tools interferes with developing their own artistic voices, relies on copyrighted material without permission, and most pressingly, threatens their ability to build careers in music. Andrea Recalde, a fourth-year student studying music business management and songwriting, articulated the fear plainly: "We're scared that it's going to take over the love we have for the craft, take over our community, take over everything" .

Coco Martins, a third-year jazz composition and songwriting major who helped organize a meeting with faculty, expressed concern about the erosion of personal creativity. "It's really upsetting to think that people will stop being able to use their imagination and creativity to express their personal identity," Martins stated, "because the things that we write and create are so inherently personal to us" .

How Are Students Organizing Their Response?

The student resistance has taken concrete form. Ari Heasley, who is close to completing his degree in music production, launched an online petition calling on Berklee to abandon the "Bots and Beats" course and discontinue AI tools in other offerings. The petition has attracted over 330 signers, though it remains unclear how many are directly affiliated with the school .

Heasley's core objection centers on a fundamental contradiction: "What worries me is that generative AI is built into the syllabus of these classes. You can't have a discussion on ethics and make students use these products for homework at the same time," he explained .

When students met with Rodney Alejandro, dean of the songwriting department, on April 7, they raised another concern: a potential conflict of interest. The course is taught by Ben Camp, an associate professor and songwriter who also lists himself on LinkedIn as a part-time adviser to Suno, the Cambridge-based AI music generation platform. Students questioned whether this arrangement compromised the school's objectivity .

What Are Faculty Members Saying About AI Music Quality?

Notably, some Berklee faculty share student concerns. Marti Epstein, a classical music composer who has taught at Berklee for 34 years, expressed worry about students submitting AI-written papers and fears the technology will damage their creative development. She was also disappointed to see faculty encouraged to use AI tools for research during a demonstration of Google's Gemini chatbot .

Nicholas Urie, who teaches arranging and music writing, was more blunt about the quality of AI-generated music. "All I hear is seven-fingered, three-armed songs," he said, comparing obvious flaws in AI music composition to the visual errors in AI-generated images, such as people with too many fingers. "I find it baffling that Berklee would want anything to do with it," Urie added .

Research supports the concern that AI tools can undermine artistic development. MIT Sloan professor Jackson Lu, who worked on a study examining AI in creative education, noted the critical distinction: "If a young musician uses AI to study styles, test ideas, or overcome a blank page, that may be productive. If they use it to avoid developing their own ear, craft, and artistic identity, that is much more problematic" .

How Is Berklee Defending Its AI Curriculum?

Berklee officials maintain that teaching AI is essential preparation for students entering a rapidly changing industry. In a statement to the Boston Globe, the school said: "As an artist-first institution at the forefront of contemporary music and performing arts education, Berklee has a responsibility to prepare our students to navigate technologies impacting the creative industries. We will continue to do so, in keeping with our guiding principles" .

Mark Ethier, executive director of the Berklee Emerging Artistic Technology Lab, has compared AI to previous technological disruptions in music. Speaking on WBUR, he noted that while the drum machine may have eliminated some jobs for drummers, "it also became the basis of hip-hop" .

The course description for "Bots and Beats" indicates students will "be tasked with generating original lyrics, melodies, songs, and recordings in collaboration with AI" while simultaneously "exploring whether you should be doing it at all, and the legal and ethical implications it has to bring" .

Steps Students Can Take to Navigate AI in Music Education

• Understand the Distinction: Learn when AI tools can support creative development (brainstorming, studying styles, overcoming creative blocks) versus when they substitute for developing your own artistic identity and ear.
• Ask About Conflicts of Interest: When instructors teach AI tools, inquire whether they have financial relationships with the companies behind those tools, and request transparency about how this might influence curriculum design.
• Advocate for Balanced Curriculum: Push for courses that examine AI critically and ethically rather than requiring students to use AI tools as part of graded assignments, allowing genuine debate without coercion.
• Focus on Foundational Skills: Prioritize developing your ear, understanding music theory, and building your unique artistic voice before relying on AI tools, ensuring you have the craft foundation to evaluate what AI generates.

For Suno, the company behind the AI music tool at the center of this debate, the response has been measured. The company stated it aims to help people be more creative rather than replace them, and noted that it blocks users from uploading or requesting songs in the style of specific artists or using copyrighted lyrics. "We build our features with and for artists, shaped directly by feedback from the artists, songwriters and producers who use them in their creative processes," the company said .

The Berklee situation reflects a broader tension playing out across higher education. Schools from Dartmouth to the University of Colorado have faced similar anti-AI sentiment from students concerned about environmental impact, copyright issues, and job displacement. But at a music conservatory, the stakes feel more personal: students are worried not just about the technology's societal impact, but about whether their expensive education is preparing them to compete in a field where AI might soon do the work they're training to do .

The question Berklee must answer is whether teaching AI tools to music students represents necessary preparation for an AI-driven future, or whether it risks replacing the very skills and artistic identity that justify the school's premium tuition and reputation.