Cheerful Music, AI, and the Search for Meaning in a World of Endless Sound
- Louise Clark
- 14 minutes ago
- 2 min read
There’s something quietly radical about asking not how music is made, but why it still matters.
That question sat at the heart of Snow Jiang’s recent appearance at Harvard Business School’s China Classroom in Chengdu. The Founder and CEO of Cheerful Music — and an HBS alumna — returned as a featured case-study guest to speak on The AI Future of the Music Industry, inviting students to look beyond algorithms and into emotion.
With more than seven million AI-generated songs emerging every day, Snow offered a grounded perspective: music itself is no longer rare.
“What’s rare now,” she said, “is being heard — and being felt.”
Cheerful Music’s story is one of resonance over excess. Tracks like Xiang Si Yao and Luo Le Bai didn’t just go viral; they created spaces for people to move, participate, and feel together. Their success came from understanding how sound, visuals, and emotion intersect in short-form digital worlds.
When asked about the rising cost of attention, Snow didn’t soften the truth. Promotion now costs four to five times more than it once did. But within that challenge lies intention — a demand for deeper understanding of audiences, culture, and emotional timing.
Rather than treating AI as a shortcut, Cheerful Music is treating it as infrastructure. The company is building a fully owned AI music ecosystem where every creative element is rights-secure, allowing experimentation without ethical or legal compromise.
Virtual artists, too, are explained through a human lens. They aren’t replacements or novelties, but vessels — visual expressions that help music linger longer in memory, especially in spaces where images often speak first.
As Cheerful Music steps onto global stages — from Amsterdam Dance Event to an upcoming appearance at SXSW 2026 — its vision feels less about expansion and more about connection. Between cultures. Between people. Between sound and feeling.
