Blake and Music, 2024

Abstract

In the past few years we have tried to keep more regular track of Blake’s reception in music with our annual checklist of classical and popular settings. Every new inventory reveals the minute particulars of each year and reflects in one way or another the transformations and trends in the music industry. The ascending curve of settings between 2021 and 2023 was steady (152 tracks in 2021, 168 in 2022, and 192 in 2023), but in 2024 the number of tracks jumped to 303, representing an increase of almost 60% in relation to the previous year. Unfortunately, the reason for such dramatic growth cannot simply be explained by Blake’s soaring popularity in recent years; it also hinges on the pervasive (and pernicious) influence of an old new “friend”: artificial intelligence.