Grammy Awards Unlikely to Recognize AI-Created Music
According to Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., it seems that Fake Drake will not be receiving a Grammy. The organization will take into account music that includes some AI-generated voices or instrumentation for award recognition, but it will only acknowledge songs that are primarily written and performed by humans.
“At this point, we allow AI music and content to be submitted, but Grammy Awards can only go to human creators who have made creative contributions in the appropriate categories,” Mason said in an interview with Grammy.com. “If an AI voice sings a song or an AI instrument, we’ll consider it. But in a songwriting-based category, it’s had to be mostly written by a human. The same goes for the performance categories — only a human performer can be considered for a Grammy. If an AI did the song or created the music, that’s a different matter. But the Grammy goes to the human creators at this point.”
The CEO’s comments mean the fake Drake / The Weeknd song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which went viral earlier this year before being wiped from streaming platforms due to copyright takedowns, would not be eligible. Another AI-generated scammer sold fake Frank Ocean songs in April for a reported $13,000 CAD ($9,722 USD), while Spotify has been busy purging tens of thousands of AI-made songs from its library.
On the other hand, it raises questions about artists like Holly Herndon, who used an AI version of her voice to cover Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” (The AI-produced performance doesn’t suggest that, but does it seem like it’s his own voice?) Or there’s the “last” Beatles track coming, which Paul McCartney says he uses the AI to isolate the messed-up recording. From John Lennon’s voice. And would Taryn Southern, who (also transparently) used AI to co-produce her 2018 debut album, qualify? We reached out to the Recording Academy for clarification on these examples and will update this article if they respond.
Awards or not, Mason agreed that AI would disrupt the music industry. “Artificial intelligence will absolutely, unequivocally be involved in shaping the future of our industry,” Mason said. “So we have to start planning around that and think about what that means for us. How can we adapt to adapt? How can we set guardrails and standards? There are a lot of things around AI that need to be addressed as it relates to our industry.” The CEO added that the Recording Academy recently held a summit with “industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, streaming platforms and people in the artist community” to discuss the future of artificial intelligence. “We talked about the topic and discussed how the Recording Academy can help: how we can play a role and the future of artificial intelligence in music.”
