The New York Times reported on September 5 that a viral track from the anonymous producer “Ghostwriter” featuring an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated vocal track of the rapper Drake has been submitted for Grammy consideration.
The Ghostwriter team has submitted “Heart on My Sleeve” to the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, for nomination in Best Rap Song and Song of the Year, according to a representative for the New York Times.
In both categories, the award goes to the songwriter, who the Ghostwriter representative confirmed as human.
This year, the Grammys updated their policy for award eligibility for the forthcoming award season to include AI-generated music components. The catch is that the recording must be nominated in a category for a human-created portion of the song.
The CEO of the Grammys, Harvey Mason Jr., verified this, stating that AI-infused music is “absolutely eligible” for nomination. He reaffirmed this to the New York Times about the Ghostwriter AI-Drake track, saying:
“As far as the creative side, it’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human.”
According to Grammy regulations, a recording must have “general distribution” to be eligible, including streaming services.
However, “Heart on My Sleeve” was removed from all major streaming services despite the opinion of industry experts that its use of artificial intelligence fell within a “legal gray area.”
Universal Music Group, one of the most prominent record labels in the industry, sent a mass email in April to major streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, requesting that they prevent artificial intelligence (AI) services from harvesting melodies and lyrics from copyrighted songs and remove songs in violation of copyright.
It was subsequently reported that Spotify had increased its policing of tracks in violation of copyright infringement on its platform, as well as its barring of artificial streaming of songs to increase the number of listeners.
