Darren: On this week’s Engaging Marketeer podcast, I’m speaking to Alistair Dickinson, who runs a CRM business and a SaaS product, but we’re not going to talk about that. We’re going to talk about AI. Because what Alistair has also done is create an AI pop star and an AI record label. He’s creating AI music, uploading it to YouTube, and is about to monetise it and make money from it.
So, who will know the difference? Is it AI? Is it not? Is AI creativity actually creativity, or will AI come for our jobs? Let’s talk to Alistair and find out what he thinks.
When I was looking at what you do, one of the things that struck me as a bit of a juxtaposition is that you’ve written a book, The Essential Guide for Businesses on GDPR, yet you’re also massively into AI and what AI can do. Those two seem like polar opposites. What was your thinking behind that?
Alistair: My whole background and ethos in business is that I swap and change. When I graduated from university, I wanted to work in data, cyber security, GDPR, all that kind of data protection stuff. That was what I was interested in.
I graduated as a software engineer, but the data side was what excited me. The problem back then was that the Data Protection Act was rubbish, and there weren’t really jobs in that area. So, I left it.
When GDPR came along, that interest came back. But suddenly, as a business owner, everyone was trying to sell me things—new software, services, even appliances—claiming they were needed for GDPR. It was constant bombardment.
So, I started writing blogs to clarify things. Those blogs turned into chapters, then into a full book. I self-published it, mainly to tick that box off the list. I’d never done it before and thought it would be fun to try.
Darren: So you never set out to write the book?
Alistair: No, not at all. It came from frustration. I wanted to tell people what they didn’t need to do. Everyone was scaremongering, like with the millennium bug. People were being told they needed to replace everything, and it was nonsense.
I started teaching people that they didn’t need to panic-buy or overcomplicate compliance.
I’ve always been a product person too. I’ve built products since I started in business because I realised early on that if you sell your time, you can only sell it once. But if you make a product, you can sell it over and over again.
We built 15 or 16 products that we’ve sold worldwide, which became the foundation of my CRM business. One of our most successful projects was geospatial data—understanding where your customers are and what sells best where. That evolved into Maps, our SaaS platform, which now runs independently around the world.
Darren: And then AI came along.
Alistair: Yeah. I didn’t want to get into it at first. When ChatGPT came out around October 2022, I thought, “I don’t want another tech stack to learn.”
By January, I was deep down the rabbit hole…
I wanted to find out if this was hype or if AI would really change everything—our jobs, our industries, the way we work. So, I started a YouTube channel called We Ask AI.
I didn’t lead it. I asked open questions—“What do you think about education?” “How do you see the world changing?”—and let it respond. Some of the answers were surprisingly self-aware, talking about replacing teachers with custom AI learning plans for every child in the country. It was eerie.
That curiosity turned into training sessions for small businesses. I wanted to show what AI could do in practice—music, video, imagery. So, I created an AI country pop star called Cassidy James. I wrote the lyrics myself, used AI to generate the music, created the visuals, and put it on YouTube. It wasn’t about going viral. It was just to demonstrate what was possible.
Within five days, the channel had 140 subscribers and thousands of views. One video hit over 16,000. And I’d clearly labelled everything as AI-generated.
That’s when I realised there was potential here. The watch time alone was over 200 hours in a few days. Anyone who’s tried YouTube knows how hard that is.
Darren: That’s huge.
Alistair: Yeah. That kicked off my AI creation journey. I started researching how big platforms like YouTube and Spotify were approaching AI. I even joined YouTube’s AI Creator Panel to understand their direction.
Despite rumours, the big platforms aren’t banning AI—they’re building tools around it. YouTube’s developing AI-generated videos for podcasts and music. Spotify has launched AI-read audiobooks.
That tells me it’s not a fad. It’s a shift.
So, I decided to create a global AI record label. I’ve now got five AI artists in different genres, all with albums on Spotify. I’ve even produced vinyl records using AI-assisted manufacturing that allows for single-copy prints.
All of this is run from my desktop on the Isle of Wight. We’ve got listeners in 140 countries. One of the YouTube channels is about to hit monetisation in under 10 months.
Darren: That’s interesting, especially given that Google said it would stop monetising 100% AI-generated videos.
Alistair: Right. But that only applies if everything—lyrics, vocals, video—is AI. I still write all the lyrics, and we remaster everything. So it’s collaborative rather than automated.
And even if ad revenue goes away, that’s not the only income stream. YouTube memberships and Spotify streaming revenue are still there. Spotify certainly isn’t banning AI content.
Remember that viral AI band that hit over a million monthly listeners, even though no one admitted to creating it? Many people suspect it was Spotify testing the concept themselves.
Darren: Probably to see if they could keep all the money and cut out artists.
Alistair: Exactly. But it also proved that people will listen to AI music if it’s good. You can’t just “ban” technology like this—it’ll evolve. You can’t stop people from creating.
I’ve had people say AI can’t create, it can only mimic. And they’re right—to a point. AI learns from what we’ve made. But so do we. Nobody creates in isolation. Every artist, writer, and musician builds on what came before.
So will AI make something completely original? Probably not. But neither do we.
I’ve tried teaching AI to write songs using my own lyrics as a base. It still comes out awful—lines like, “The flowers in the sunshine are in a pickup truck.”
Darren: Sounds like a hit.
Alistair: Ha! Yeah, probably chart-worthy these days. But no, I’m not pretending to be an artist. I’m a record company. Artists have songwriters. I have AI as my team.
And that’s what people are afraid of. It makes creativity accessible. Anyone can now make a song, video, or design. That threatens industries built on exclusivity.
Darren: I was going to say, AI isn’t taking creatives’ jobs. It’s just a tool. If you’re lazy, it helps you be lazy faster. If you’re good, it helps you be better.
Alistair: Exactly. It’s a tool. I can’t sing or play professionally, but I can produce full compositions and videos with AI. It’s empowering.
One of my current projects is a vampire-themed music video, generated frame-by-frame. I directed every angle and shot using prompts. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s getting close.
A year ago, a friend in VFX told me AI would never generate full video. I sent him my vampire project recently and he said, “Okay, it’s getting interesting.”
At this pace, 30-minute AI films could be normal in a year.
Darren: It’s moving fast.
Alistair: Ridiculously fast. But that’s what fascinates me. I’m testing how to use it in marketing too.
Marketing is about being different. I started creating AI mini-series for my SaaS products—funny sketches, parody songs. We tripled web traffic in a day. That’s marketing now. It’s storytelling, not just selling.
Darren: Exactly. You’re turning your products into entertainment.
Alistair: Yes. And when people say, “You can’t build a record label with AI,” I take it as a challenge. Hold my beer. Let’s see what happens.
Some people accuse me of taking jobs from artists, but that’s nonsense. No guitarist is sitting at home thinking, “That’s it, I’m done, Alistair’s made an AI artist.”
In 2022, before AI even hit music, 37 million tracks were released on streaming platforms. Most of them were awful. People have been making bad music long before AI came along.
Darren: Right, and we already use digital tools in music—autotune, synthesizers, drum machines.
Alistair: Exactly. This isn’t new. AI is just the next step in digital production.
Look at Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the 80s. They mass-produced pop songs and swapped singers in and out. Listen to Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue, and Mel & Kim—they all sound identical. AI is the logical continuation of that.
Darren:
Do you think AI will replace a lot of jobs?
Alistair: Eventually, yes. Humans are lazy by nature, and once a tool is easier, we adopt it. It’s the same story as the internet.
People said online shopping would never work. Then social media arrived. It took twenty years for everyone to catch up. AI will follow that timeline too. Gen Alpha will grow up with it like we did with the internet.
Darren: I remember working for GAME in 2000. Back then, the website was treated as just another store. Now, it is the business. Everyone laughed at it. It’s déjà vu with AI.
Alistair: Exactly. The resistance phase always comes first. Then it becomes normal.
Only about 12% of workers have embraced AI so far. ChatGPT may have hundreds of millions of users, but very few are using it properly. Those who do will get ahead fast.
It’s like any tool—garbage in, garbage out.
Darren: We use it daily too. The whole team does. But you have to know how to use it strategically.
Alistair: Exactly. I’ve already seen AI replace weeks of development time. What used to take us six weeks and £40,000 to prototype now takes an hour.
It’s not about now—it’s about the next five years.
Darren: That’s both incredible and terrifying.
Alistair: I’m not scared of it. I run toward new tech. It’s inevitable. Just like the internet spread into everything—phones, TVs, fridges—AI will be everywhere.
Darren:
What about the risks?
Alistair: There are risks with everything—privacy, data, misuse. Am I worried about Terminator-style robots? Not really. But we could very well sleepwalk into our own destruction if we’re careless.
We’re teaching AI everything about us—our creativity and our flaws. Eventually, it might decide we’re the problem.
The real limitation will be computing power. Quantum computing will remove that barrier eventually, but that’s still decades away.
Darren: And in the meantime, you’ll keep experimenting?
Alistair: Absolutely. I love it. I’ve been in tech for nearly thirty years and still get excited about what’s next.
We’re still developing Maps, our SaaS mapping platform, now running on data centres across Europe, America, and Asia. It’s subscription-based and self-service. We’re integrating AI into it next year to generate insights by location.
Our CRM business is winding down, though. Tools like Monday and HubSpot have taken over that space. Hosting and licensing costs are rising, and small-scale CRMs just aren’t viable anymore.
Instead, I’m focusing on scalable products and AI ventures.
We did get hacked last year and lost four YouTube channels, which was painful, but it was my fault. I’d stored them on one Google account. Everything’s now separated, secured, and backed up.
Darren: Normally I’d ask how people can get in touch if they want to work with you, but since you’re not taking new CRM clients, who should reach out?
Alistair: I’d love to connect with creative people working in AI—musicians, technologists, filmmakers—anyone using AI as a tool to make things.
Find me on LinkedIn. You’ll see the vampire project there. I know LinkedIn isn’t “for vampires,” but I don’t care. The LinkedIn police can scroll past.
Darren: I love that line—LinkedIn isn’t for vampires.
Alistair: Exactly. People tell me what I can and can’t post, but I just do it anyway. The world doesn’t end.
I used to have 27,000 followers, now I’ve got 22,000. Probably upset a few people. The rest either get it or left LinkedIn.
I’m pretty thick-skinned. I had a major accident when I was 20—fell off a ladder, shattered my pelvis and leg. The consultant told me I was lucky to survive and to make the most of life because I wouldn’t get another chance.
That stuck with me. I don’t stress. I just do what interests me.
I never wanted to work in tech. I wanted to work in theatre lighting. I was fascinated by how light and colour could transform a stage. I even knew someone who toured with Bon Jovi doing lighting, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do.”
But that accident changed everything.
So now, I do what inspires me. The world’s chaotic but beautiful. You’ve just got to live it.
Darren: On that note, that’s a brilliant way to end. Alistair, thank you for joining me.
Alistair: You’re more than welcome.
More about Alistair:
Alistair Dickinson is a tech entrepreneur, author and innovator with over 30 years of experience in software, SaaS, and data-driven business solutions. He’s the founder of a global AI record label creating fully AI-assisted artists and music distributed on Spotify and YouTube, and the creator of Maps, a geospatial SaaS platform used worldwide. Alistair is also the author of The Essential Guide for Businesses on GDPR and a recognised voice in AI creativity, technology and automation. From surviving a life-changing accident to building multiple international tech ventures, he continues to push the boundaries of how humans and machines can create together.
You can connect with Alistair here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistairceo/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2703779406444247/user/100000857479981/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alistairdickinsontiktok
About your host:
Darren has worked within digital marketing since the last century, and was the first in-house web designer for video games retailer GAME in the UK, known as Electronics Boutique in the States. After co-founding his own agency, Engage Web, in 2009, Darren has worked with clients around the world, including Australia, Canada and the USA.
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/engaging-marketeer/id1612454837
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenjamieson/
Engaging Marketeer: https://engagingmarketeer.com
Engage Web: https://www.engageweb.co.uk
