The multifold use of artificial intelligence (AI) has now swept the music industry. Take the case of The Grammys in 2024. The awards will have a new protocol: “only human creators” could win the honour.
This decision implies the use of AI in popular music, and that the music nominations can have AI-created elements and are eligible for nominations, but the award will be granted for the human portion. While announcing changes to the awards, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason said he is expecting many AI songs to be submitted for the awards this time. “A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” the rules read. As the music industry continues to come to terms with this new technology, so too will the Grammys, said Mason.
The news came in after the Beatles’ last song had AI-generated music and could possibly be eligible for nomination for the 66th edition of the Grammy Awards in February next year.
One of the members of the group, Paul McCartney shared that this record had been composed using AI to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo. The song features the voice of late member John Lennon. As reported by the BBC, Lennon recorded the song as a demo in 1978 and director Peter Jackson had used the technology for the 2021 documentary series The Beatles: Get Back. “He was able to extricate John’s voice and a piano, and could separate them with AI,” McCartney said.
The use of AI in music can be fun and entertaining but it is concerning the sort of abuse the technology could bring with it. But this isn’t the first time that AI has been used to extract the voice of legends. German composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s 10th Symphony, the last and unfinished symphony, which could not be completed due to his worsening health and death, was completed in 2021. It was brought together by German telecom giant Telekom with the help of AI and a team of international musicologists and experts. The symphony is released on BMG releases titled as Beethoven X–The AI Project.
So can AI be used in terms of artists who are no longer with us? Many musicians and researchers are developing tools to make AI-enabled music accessible to artists and audience.
But the copyright complications are still work in progress while the advanced technology can democratise musical creations. Artists like Alejandra Ghersi Rodríguez, known professionally as Arca, is a Venezuelan musician and record producer based in Barcelona as well as American artist Holly Herndon have worked with AI to make music.
In fact, this year, the music track Heart on My Sleeve” by artist Ghostwriter features AI-generated vocals of Canadian musicians Drake and The Weeknd. The track had garnered millions of hits online before it was taken down due to copyright infringement from Universal Music Group.
