The story of how I, a 'nobody,' met AI and became 'someone'
Nice to meet you, I am JACKPOT031.
I cannot read sheet music, I cannot play any instruments, and I am not a good singer.
It was in the autumn of 2024 that I, being such a person, produced a song and posted a video on YouTube for the first time.
"I want to leave something behind in this world."
I am sure many people have thought this at least once.
However, showing something to others and stepping into a place where you can be evaluated is a very courageous act.
Furthermore, I don't think there are many people who can objectively assess their own abilities, consider their 'limitations,' and then take that first step.
That is how high the hurdle is to become an 'artist.'
In the midst of this, AI technology has evolved at an incredible speed and has come down to a level where anyone can use it.
While this AI tool requires caution in how it is used, it is something that can compensate for your weaknesses and expand your strengths.
By using AI, I
compensated for my weaknesses of 'not being able to read sheet music, play instruments, or sing well,'
and expanded my 'writing ability,' which I am reasonably confident in.
As a result,
what was once a 'dream within a dream'—'producing and distributing music'—became a reality.
Currently, thanks to everyone,
the number of subscribers to my YouTube channel has exceeded 40,000,
and the total number of plays on music streaming services has also exceeded 10,000 (as of July 2025).
I feel like I have, in my own way, managed to become something of an 'artist.'
This time, I would like to look back on my journey.
The past where I gave up on being known to the world
When I was a child, I loved reading biographies of great people.
I also loved dinosaurs.
I loved adventure movies like Indiana Jones.
Somewhere along the line, I think I truly believed that
I might leave my name behind like the people in those biographies,
or become an existence talked about 230 million years from now like the dinosaurs,
or throw myself into thrilling adventures like Indiana Jones—
I think I truly believed I might be able to become something like that.
But, I wonder when it was that I realized I 'could not' become any of those things.
Before I knew it, I had tucked those dreams away deep in my heart and started living by looking at reality.
Fully recognizing that I was a 'nobody.'
Even so, somewhere,
the desire that 'it would be nice if something I was involved in appeared in a magazine or on the internet'
—that wish remained, faintly, without disappearing.
The reason I could think that way is largely due to my father's influence.
My father continued to independently elevate his hobbies, which were unrelated to his work,
and was active by writing columns for magazines and becoming a tester for tools.
I have always strongly admired, and still do, the way of life that involves 'elevating a hobby to a certain level.'
However, I could never find anything that I could elevate in that way.
Meeting AI
The turning point was my encounter with AI.
It was October 2024 when I learned that there was an AI capable of not only creating songs but also adding vocals.
I was amazed when I tried that AI, 'SunoAI.'
When you input lyrics and a musical style, it generates music and sings with Japanese vocals.
It even had a structure that built up with a key change toward the second half.
The moment I heard it, I thought:
This might be a tool that can compensate for the parts I couldn't do myself.
With this, I might be able to create music too.
After that thought, I was absorbed in using SunoAI.
Of course, AI is not a magical tool.
What it produces doesn't immediately become a finished product, and it took a considerable amount of ingenuity and trial and error to shape what I had in mind.
And there was another reliable 'partner' I had.
ChatGPT.
I use it more in a form of dialogue than for giving commands (prompts).
That is why I dare to call it a 'partner' rather than an 'auxiliary tool.'
When thinking about lyrics or musical styles, if I carefully verbalize the theme, structure, and elements I want to include and throw them at it, it returns a 'draft' that follows them.
While reading that, I mix it with the expressions inside me.
Sometimes through intuition, sometimes through logic—the process of shaping words and musical styles in this way was very creative.
Even if you can't read sheet music, even if you can't play an instrument,
you can still 'express' yourself—
I was able to think that and actually take action because of this encounter with AI.
Does a work involving AI have value as a 'creative work'?
There is still much debate over this question.
In fact, it is said that things created with generative AI do not have copyright.
For example, if you just throw a prompt like 'make cool lyrics' or 'make a prompt for a nice musical style' and use what comes out as is, it probably cannot be called creation.
However, it seems that copyright may arise for things where AI is used strictly as a 'draft' and significant editing and structuring are added afterward.
In my case, since I use the generated music and vocal parts as they are, no copyright arises, but regarding the lyrics, since I have added editing and structuring, I believe there is a high possibility that they can be called a 'creative work.'
If we define 'something with copyright' as a 'creative work,' then
Perhaps the most accurate way to describe what I create is
“creative works that partially contain copyrighted elements.”
My music has also been officially released on subscription services like Apple Music and Spotify after passing their review processes, with the use of generative AI clearly disclosed.
How the treatment of AI-generated creative work will evolve in the future—that remains unknown.
But one thing I can say for certain is that
it was undoubtedly AI that awakened my smoldering “desire to create,” allowed me to unleash my work into the world, and brought me to a point where my name actually appears when you search for it.
I have ideas. But I lack the means to give them form—
for people like that, AI is a great source of hope.
Using AI as an auxiliary tool to bring buried concepts out into the world as expressions should by no means be considered a negative.
This might be an exaggeration, but
for humanity, which continues to “change” in order to survive,
this might be one of the necessary processes.
That is what I believe.
The day I became searchable
I was nervous when I first posted on YouTube, but
what felt like an even bigger event for me personally was the moment my songs appeared on subscription services like Spotify and Apple Music.
By using a distribution service called TuneCore, even the “creative works that partially contain copyrighted elements” that I made could be distributed.
—Even so, until they were actually listed on each store, it didn't feel quite real.
But one day, when I searched for my own name, my songs were properly listed on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and various other music distribution sites.
Furthermore, when I tried applying for artist verification, I passed the review on all platforms, and my artist pages were opened.
My application for an OAC (Official Artist Channel) on YouTube was also approved, and a music note icon appeared next to my channel name.
“The name ‘JACKPOT031’ officially exists in the world.”
When I truly felt that, I felt like something inside me had changed significantly.
Of course, I haven't made a major debut.
I haven't joined a major music label either.
Even so, songs made by “an amateur like me” are registered, searched for, and played on music platforms all over the world.
—This feeling is surely
“like having your own book lined up in a bookstore.”
I think it was close to that kind of moving experience.
What it means to reach 'someone'
Once I started posting on YouTube and various social media platforms, and distributing my music on services like Spotify and Apple Music, the play counts began to grow—slowly, but surely.
What started as a few dozen plays became hundreds, then thousands before I knew it—
Without realizing it, 'someone somewhere' who didn't know me was listening to the music I had created.
It was in that fact that I first truly felt that my 'expression had reached someone.'
I also started receiving comments on YouTube and social media.
'I can't read sheet music. I can't play an instrument. I'm not a good singer.'
Even music made by someone like that was able to touch someone else's emotions.
I felt like I, who had thought I was a nobody, had become 'something' just a little bit.
AI, myself, and the future
I felt like I had become something—
but that was merely the 'beginning'.
As the numbers of plays and comments grew, while I was happy, I also sometimes felt afraid, wondering, 'Will they really accept this?'
There might even be negative opinions about the fact that I use AI.
Even so, I believe that it was precisely because I used AI that I was able to express myself.
I still have doubts about whether I have the right to call myself an 'artist,' but having experienced the moment when my emotions and thoughts truly reached someone, I think it might be okay to call myself that, at least a little.
Moving forward, I want to continue turning the words and emotions inside me into works of art, together with my partner, AI.
And, if there is someone out there who, like I once did,
'feels like they are a nobody'
I hope I can become someone who can gently nudge them forward, saying—there is a way to do this, too.
Turning my thoughts into words, sounds, and visuals,
I will continue to create, aiming to be 'something' again today.
JACKPOT031 Related Links
lit.link (Summary of various social media links)
https://lit.link/jackpot031
TuneCore Artist Page
(Summary of various music streaming subscription links)
https://www.tunecore.co.jp/artists?id=917608
TuneCore Magazine (Articles featuring JACKPOT031)
https://magazine.tunecore.co.jp/?s=JACKPOT031
If you are interested, I would be happy if you could connect with me by following or leaving a comment