"Technology keeps moving forward, it's about not using it in a morally bankrupt way": Superstar DJ Woody Cook on the rise of algorithms and AI in music, and how we can tame them

Woody Cook is a DJ, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering his parents are none other than Norman "Fatboy Slim" Cook and former Radio 1 and 2 breakfast host Zoe Ball. However, he's also carving his own niche in a family business that's under more threat than ever before.

Opportunities for musicians and artists are at a premium: the number of live venues around the UK is shrinking, algorithms have a stranglehold on the music we stream, and all while AI interference conversely expands at an unprecedented rate. It's enough to consider a change of career.

But beyond merely surviving in an ever-changing digital landscape, Cook remains unboundedly positive about its future. After all, why worry about the impact of technology on your work when you can learn to control it – embrace it even?

"I think at one end you have amazing tools where, when sampling and stuff, a lot of time there's these bits missing from the sample because you've had to take out the drums and things like that. I think there's an amazing application for AI to fix that sound," he told T3 when we recently sat down to chat.

"But at the same time, I think it could also lead to laziness, repetitiveness. Everyone got angry at sampling for being piracy, but this is basically pirating everyone at once – pirating the entirety of music that's ever existed.

"I guess though, everything's scary when it first comes out. The CDJs were scary to vinyl DJs, the television was scary to Victorians. But you know, technology keeps moving forward – it's about not fearing it, but also not using it in a morally bankrupt way."

It's not worse, it's just different

Woody, who has his father's penchant for a Hawaiian shirt and similarly animated DJ style, is under no illusion to the impact and over-reliance on algorithms and streaming is having on the music industry – at least at the grass roots level. But, he also believes technology is helping to counter it.

"We don't know exactly how the algorithms work to plug music. However, at the same time we have this loose cannon – TikTok. No matter how much [the labels] try to buy it out it has remained an uncontrollable weapon.

"Current trends can pop up overnight. You can have a song from 20 years ago suddenly hit the charts because some person danced to it in a funny way." That, Cook said, keeps things interesting.

But what about DJing, surely that's under more threat from streaming services than other forms of music performance? Algorithms and automatic mixing can keep the party going to a listener's specific tastes?

"Well yeah, 100%. Sometimes Spotify plays me the best song ever because it's got some algorithm based on people with similar music tastes to me. It's got codes to understand the music. But at the same time it's aways playing it safe.

"It's just delivering you music you're going to like because the more you enjoy it. the less likely you'll leave the service. It won't take risks," he explained, when considering whether it rivals his art.

"A good DJ, on the other hand, knows how to just pull out the tuner and do something weird – take risks, things like that. The style of DJing I do is very visceral. I will climb on the front railings – anything I can climb, I will. I'll roll. I scream at the lyrics, jump into the crowd. What AI can do that?"

All about the audience

Woody believes it's this human connection that makes the biggest difference. Listening to perfectly mixed tunes in your own home, delivered by a streaming service is one thing, but add an audience and it becomes a collective experience. And that's why he'll always be in work.

"DJing is between you and the the audience. Anyone could be a DJ, much like anyone can ride a bike. But not everyone can do a wheelie or a jump. DJing is about reading the crowd and learning what it wants. You're not going to play the same thing to an older crowd as to a bunch of 16-year-olds.

"Everyone's got a different taste, a different energy."

That's what a streaming algorithm will never truly understand. It can never assess the "vibes" of an entire crowd, rather than individuals. It can mix and blend tracks into one, but not suddenly decide to throw in a curveball mid-set. That's what a great DJ can do and why Woody will always be in demand.

An AI DJ might one day be able to replicate some of that, of course, and who knows, you might even see one on a stage at the Reading Festival at some point. But then it's never going to look as good in a Hawaiian shirt.

Woody Cook was speaking to T3 after teaming with Three Mobile in the UK to invite the nation to "Let Fun In". This encourages Brits to make more room for fun and spontaneity in everyday life. Three customers can also find a range of treats and rewards in the Three+ app.