Fake Drake and The Weeknd song created with AI submitted for Grammy consideration
Written by WOM writer on September 8, 2023
The Recording Academy’s chief executive says “It’s absolutely eligible”.
A track which uses AI to emulate the vocals of Drake and The Weeknd has been submitted for consideration by The Grammy Awards.
The song, titled Heart On My Sleeve, was created by anonymous producer Ghostwriter. It reached a mighty 13 million views on TikTok alone when it began circulating earlier this year, and was eventually banned by Universal Music Group.
As reported by The New York Times, a representative for Ghostwriter has confirmed that the track has been submitted for Grammy consideration in two categories: Best Rap Song and Song Of The Year.
Both awards in these categories go to the writer of a song, not the performer. However, one of the requirements for submission is that the track must be “available nationwide via brick-and-mortar stores, third-party online retailers and/or streaming services”, meaning the ban imposed by UMG could potentially derail the submission.
hi im ghostwriter. #drake #aivoice #theweeknd #ai #aidrake #theweekndai pic.twitter.com/lUUAHC1Xw8
— ghostwriter977 (@imghostwrit3r) April 16, 2023
On the other hand, the Recording Academy’s chief executive, Harvey Mason Jr., argues that “It’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human.”
He later adds in his interview with publication, “Ghostwriter really has played an important role here to bring awareness and attention. We know AI is going to play a role in our business. We can’t pretend to turn our back on it and try to ban it.
“I’m not scared of AI, but I do believe work needs to be done to make sure that things are in place so that the creative community is protected.”
Earlier this year in April, UMG asked “which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation” after it also had an AI-generated ‘fake Drake’ cover of Ice Spice’s Munch banned from streaming services.
Source: Rachel Roberts – musictech.com
