The world of music faces an unprecedented challenge: a song generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that imitates the voices of the famous singers Drake and The Weeknd could be nominated for the Grammy Awards. This is Heart on My Sleeve, created by an anonymous artist known as Ghostwriter, who went viral on TikTok earlier this year due to this creation.
The Recording Academy, which organizes the prestigious music awards, has allowed the artist to submit his creation for consideration in two of the awards’ most important categories: Best Rap Song and Song of the Year, as The New York Times reported. . That the academy has accepted the candidacy has greatly surprised the industry. In April, the song was removed from streaming platforms including Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer and Tidal following a complaint from Universal Music Group, which claimed the song violated copyright law.
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, noted that this track is “absolutely eligible because it was written by a human,” even though the song uses AI-generated voices. That is, Ghostwriter is the genuine author and the use of AI is limited to imitating the voices of popular artists for its interpretation.
The track went viral on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify, accumulating more than one million views. However, due to copyright issues, streaming platforms removed the song.
This case has opened a debate about AI-generated music in the music industry. The Recording Academy currently has specific requirements for an AI-generated song to be eligible for a Grammy. The track must be written by a human and must be commercially available.
Additionally, intriguing questions have been raised about the role of AI in music creation and its acceptance in the industry. The Recording Academy and other industry players are considering how to approach this new form of music creation to protect the interests of artists and ensure that creativity continues to thrive.
Music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) has reached an exciting level in recent years, but it opens a new melon: protecting the voice of artists. Thus, according to The New York Times, it is expected to “work with interested parties to build a platform that guarantees that artists who choose to license their voice can control how it is used and ensure that they are paid when it is”.
“Ghostwriter has really played a big role here in raising awareness and attention,” Mason said. “We know that AI will play a role in our business. “We cannot pretend to turn our backs on it and try to ban it,” he added.
Ghostwriter has continued to experiment with AI and has released a new song, Whiplash, which uses AI-generated voices to sound like rappers Travis Scott and 21 Savage.
The song is a kind of criticism of the music industry and has been shared on social media platforms, accumulating comments for and against the creation. While there are users who encourage the artist to continue with this type of production, others reject him for copying artists’ voices through AI.