In a first for the music industry, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-created track featuring vocals of the famous rapper, Drake and The weekend has been submitted for Grammy nomination consideration. The song, “Heart on My Sleeve,” was produced by the anonymous artist known as “Ghostwriter.”
The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, updated its policy earlier this year to allow music with AI elements to be eligible for awards, setting the stage for this nomination.
In both categories for which the song has been submitted, Best Rap Song and Song of the Year, the award is attributed to the songwriter, maintaining the essence of human creativity in the award recognition process. This individual was confirmed to be human by a representative from the Ghostwriter team, aligning with the Grammy’s stipulation that the nominated category must involve a human-created portion of the song.
Listen to this AI generated song featuring Drake & The Weeknd.
It goes so damn hard.
It’s by “Ghostwriter977” on TikTok and it’s blowing up on socials + streaming platforms.
UMG, which controls around 1/3 of the global music market, has already asked streaming platforms to ban… pic.twitter.com/roz2EfI48M
— Roberto Nickson (@rpnickson) April 16, 2023
Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Grammys, confirmed this policy, stating that music with AI components is “absolutely eligible” for a Grammy nomination. He also emphasized that the Academy considers the commercial availability of the song, a vital criterion in the Grammy rules, which necessitates “general distribution,” including being accessible on streaming platforms.
However, the song has met with some controversy. Universal Music Group, a key player in the global music industry, requested major streaming platforms to block AI services from using melodies and lyrics from copyrighted songs. Subsequently, “Heart on My Sleeve” was removed from all major streaming platforms, despite falling into what industry experts call a “legal gray area.”
As the music industry navigates this uncharted territory, the Ghostwriter team’s initiative stands as a testament to the evolving landscape, where technology meets creativity, opening avenues for a new genre of music that harmoniously blends artificial intelligence with human ingenuity.
As we await further comment from the Recording Academy, the music industry watches with bated breath to see if this AI-produced track will indeed make Grammy history.
