A New AI-Generated Song Copying Drake And The Weeknd Has Risen A Lot Of Concerns For The Music Industry
Artificial intelligence is everywhere now, it is almost inevitable that we all run into it at some point. AI has many enjoyable aspects, but now it is getting to a point where it could potentially hurt the careers of artists, musicians, writers, etc.
Photo: Prince Williams and Amy Sussman via Rolling Stone
Last month, an AI-generated song was released that mimicked a few of the music industry’s biggest names, Drake and The Weeknd. This song, “Heart on My Sleeve”, was created using AI technology by listening to countless amounts of their released works to understand their style, voice, and lyrics. From there the song was created but the AI technology was also able to replicate both of their voices to the point where it is completely identifiable that it is copying The Weeknd and Drake.
However, the fact that the machines were fed the copyrighted songs is a problem for the artists and their rights. Since the software uses these copyrighted songs to create their own versions of the artist's songs, it is a bit of a gray area that many are unsure about. Drake and The Weeknd are signed under the label UMG, Universal Music Group, and when asked about the AI song they said they “will not hesitate to take steps to protect our rights and those of our artists.” Additionally, Metro Boomin’s iconic producer tag was used in the song and this part is positively copyrighted and will not be allowed again.
Photo: Amy Sussman via New York Times
This is becoming a bigger issue because these artists have built their life around creating their own music and using their own talents to write, sing, rap, produce, or record music and that is being taken away now. With these technological advancements, people could potentially prefer AI music over the artist themself. Jonathan Faber, the founder of Luminary Group, which focuses on the protection of rights for celebrities or other famous persons, said “The ability to create a new work this realistic and specific is disconcerting, and could pose a range of threats and challenges to rightsowners, musicians, and the businesses that invest in them.”
Photo: Rich Fury via People
The one who is responsible for uploading “Heart on My Sleeve” is a user that goes by the name Ghostwriter. While Ghostwriter is the one who uploaded, and most likely had the AI create the song, there is no sure way to find out if the voices used were AI-generated or not. This deep fake technology had been used for years and can be hard to differentiate. In the comment section of “Heart on My Sleeve”, Ghostwriter wrote, “This is just the beginning.”
While all of the AI technology can be fun and exciting, especially on the surface, when you take a closer look at it it has the potential to hurt many careers and possibly put people out of business. This is something that the music industry has not seen very much before, but they have been more prepared than other industries such as the art and photography world. However, that does not discount the severity of the situation and the problems these artists now face.
