Murat Esmer’s The Sound Vault Takes a Hybrid AI and Human Approach to Music Discovery

We sat down with Murat Esmer, founder and editor of The Sound Vault on Substack, to talk about his extensive music curation practice, and how AI helps him assert more humanness into the process.

Interview by Jeremy Young

I first came across The Sound Vault when I first joined Substack and got sent recommendations by their algorithm based on my categorical and musical tastes. There are some things in life that algorithms have greatly screwed up for me, and contributed to new ways I’ve found to be frustrated, Substack’s taste-based introductions to new writers and thinkers is not one of them.

I’ve been a reader of Murat Esmer ever since. In addition to track and album reviews across a number of genres personally beloved by Murat, and curated playlists, the blog consistently publishes high quality deep dives on topics like “The History of Electronic Music,” “A Guide to Trip-Hop’s History and Pioneers,” and “B-Sides That Outshined Their A-Sides.” He’s also a musician making music under his own name, and a prolific sharer.

And because he’s so approachable and open, I’ve been lucky to have some chats with him over the past few months as well. It turns out his highly personal philosophy around helping others discover music is paired with a unique approach to using AI tools to supplement the human acts of listening, writing, exploring, and expressing.

The site’s bio states that “The Sound Vault delivers timeless and unexpected music discoveries, told through stories that algorithms can’t replicate.” And yet, Murat’s use of artificial intelligence tools does help build a constant conversation around his own aesthetic taste that offers readers points of connectivity on a wider scale, and generate artwork to accompany spotlit tracks using visualization prompts.

It’s all quite fascinating to me, and indeed, effective. I wanted to know more, so here’s Murat Esmer of The Sound Vault.

Hypebot: The Sound Vault is a wonderfully diverse collection of editorial pieces on music that ranges from looks back on essential albums, thoughts on new ambient and instrumental records, OpEd style blog posts, and curated lists and playlists. How do you believe it all comes together, and why is it important for you to share content in this way?

Murat: I started with zero expectations — maybe just to learn what Substack is and to explore AI’s ability to teach me. I also liked the idea of blogging plus a social community, and I discovered Substack’s potential later. At first I was simply revisiting songs I loved and had listened to for years. I used AI, but I was also learning how to write prompts and teach the AI about my writing habits and needs.

That’s why the blog includes many genres — from world music to heavy metal, from ambient to trip-hop. These are all songs I fell in love with the first time I heard them. The core idea is this: I’ve always listened to music since childhood and spent all my money on cassettes. I loved learning about the musicians and would read the liner notes at least ten times. I memorized a lot of valuable information. Over time, for reasons I can’t fully explain, we lost some of that curiosity and started using streaming platforms without learning anything about the musicians — their origins, stories, or facts. So I created prompts and checkpoints to help generate — and occasionally write — these articles. I’m not a writer; I’m a learner who shares that learning on this blog. People subscribe and learn with me; most seem happy so far, although I do get criticism for using AI. They don’t realize how long I chatted with the AI to develop these articles. 🙂

I mainly share songs I’ve listened to for years, new discoveries, genre explorations, and articles about music history and genre history. The core idea is human curation: listening to music with care and learning about the musicians with love. AI simply helps me achieve that goal.

“The core idea is human curation: listening to music with care and learning about the musicians with love. AI simply helps me achieve that goal.”

H: How did you get into writing about music? (or, if you’d rather: “Where did the idea for this blog come from?”)

M: I think I answered this before, but my goal has always been to write about and learn the histories of musicians. I remember writing about bands like Orphaned Land and Rage Against the Machine for my university’s news and culture magazine. These are powerful bands with strong political stories. I also kept personal blogs before — all to learn and reach the right audience. I make music too; although I don’t have many listeners, I’m happy with those I do have. You are an example of a person I’ve connected with through this effort. I believe musicians and artists can help make the world a better place, so I’m contributing to something beautiful that has supported me since childhood.

H: Why do you love minimal music?

M: I don’t fall in love with genres so much as with musicians who tell stories with minimal notes. Their music creates complete imaginative scenes and conveys emotions I can feel deeply. I’ve added many examples to the blog: Ludovico Einaudi, Erkan Oğur, Nils Frahm, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Siavash Amini, and Le Trio Joubran. These artists make borderless, instrumental, and spiritual music. Einaudi, for example, composes pieces that tell a scene without words — listen to Una Mattina and watch the stars; it evokes something indescribable. This music is pure love for me.

In addition, minimal and ambient music doesn’t distract me while I’m working or doing other activities. It provides a subtle, unobtrusive background that allows me to focus without overwhelming my senses.

H: You’ve written at length about music discovery in this digital, almost post-digital age. What makes this an important topic for you? And why should listeners think more deeply about their discovery tools?

M: I discovered most of my music through shared experiences — with my brothers, friends, and music blogs. These connections helped me find numerous musicians I now adore. Blogs were invaluable for discovering new artists and expanding my musical horizons. In contrast, streaming platforms led me to passive listening — treating music like background noise, such as generic playlists like “Peaceful Guitar.” I believe this approach has inadvertently harmed musicians, even though they receive some payment from these platforms. (As a personal note, I’ve earned £25 from 15 years of music history, which speaks to the challenges musicians face. 🙂 

I turned to AI again to discover new platforms for learning about music and musicians, and I wrote four posts that seemed to go viral. Many people are trying to move away from mainstream streaming platforms because, despite their polished user interfaces and experiences, they lack spirit. Listeners who want more than just background music — those seeking to understand musicians, their lyrics, and their stories—are finding a more meaningful connection. Through these posts, I’ve discovered incredible musical insights, and I’m confident others can do the same.

H: I’m curious about your use of AI in an editorial capacity and I find it fascinating. Can you share how you use generative AI in your workflow on the blog?

M: I’ve created an explanation with the AI tool about this after harsh criticism here 🙂

I have a 357-line quality control and checklist when I generate articles. I taught my article writing style to AI, and for example, when I listen to a song I haven’t heard before, I quickly ask AI to generate an article. First, I read it, then I put it on the blog. I’m pretty happy about AI’s capabilities to teach me something; it’s all about the pace. Ignoring it is like ignoring smartphones, the internet, technology, but we should all use it wisely. I don’t like AI-generated music because I can understand it is built with an algorithm. If quality writers hate my style and relationship with AI, I can understand, but as I answered in the first question, it’s all about learning something quickly and then publishing it for the audience. I choose the songs, I keep control. AI isn’t making my blog, but helping me have a music community, and I am helping people reach human-curated lists, music, etc.

“I don’t believe the negative scenarios about AI or tech, but we should all control the usage of these technologies. I always believe in human creativity and always choose humans over it.”

H: What have you learned from your time spent making use of AI tools?

M: I can easily understand it is clever about time; it is fast, but built with the human brain. This part is relaxing. It helps me reach information very quickly. I don’t believe the negative scenarios about AI or tech, but we should all control the usage of these technologies. I always believe in human creativity and always choose humans over it.

I don’t enjoy listening to AI-generated music, but I do use it sometimes — personally. Of course I use AI to find new information, meet new people, help artists get seen and heard, reach new audiences, and teach AI tools about real music; I show them human potential (to the tools that can understand).

I also make music. I haven’t used AI to generate any of my songs so far; all are created with notes, MIDI, loops, etc. I’m against commercial AI music like lo-fi, and I’m glad some platforms are starting to remove these, since they captured nearly 30% of streaming revenue.

H: Can you see future applications for AI use in the Sound Vault’s editorial operations?

M: I’ll focus on other social networks and run tests to measure interest and collect users’ reactions. I’ve started promoting my blog on Reddit and will find a style to promote the blog and my music on other networks like Instagram, Bluesky, etc.

H: Lastly, who’s in your earphones these days?

M: Octave Noire’s Neon (2017), Moğollar’s Anadolu Pop (1971), Haavard’s Haavard (2022), Hey! Douglas!’s Devran, Pt. 1 (2025), Norrda’s Infinite Face (2007), Ludovico Einaudi’s Underwater (2022), Orphaned Land’s El Norra Alila (1996), Le Trio Joubran’s Majaz (2007), Daft Punk’s Discovery (2001), and Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke’s “The White Cliffs” (2025).

Subscribe to The Sound Vault on Substack, and learn more about Murat Esmer and his music here.