Drake's AI Song Won't Feature in Grammy Over Copyright Issues

While AI made so many things easier, it raised some new issues as well. The cutting-edge program has shown an exceptional understanding of human emotions by creating poems and songs. However, it missed the critical issues of copyrights and plagiarism. The most recent incident of the same was seen in the Grammy Awards 2023.

Here’s What Came Out of the News

The host of the annual Grammy Music Awards, the Recording Academy has termed the particular track ‘ineligible’. The CEO of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr. shared the news. He said that the artist didn’t label it nor did he obtain it legally. So in this case, they won’t be nominating the song for the award.

Mason Jr. shared this update on Instagram with a video. In the video, he acknowledged that a human had written the song. Despite that, the label or the artist didn’t seem to fully own the vocals. Therefore, the song is also not commercially available as it’s not eligible for that. He added that AI is indeed highly disputable for the music and entertainment industry.

However, he is still hopeful about the evolution and better adoption of it. As per the guidelines, Grammy accepts music with AI components. But it must meet some specific requirements. The part for which the song is nominated must be created by a human. For instance, a song can get nominated for vocal performance only when it’s by a human.

He also reassured that the Academy is doing its best to protect human artists. Notably, Mason Jr. emphasized this factor in his previous interview as well. Besides the human element, the song must also be commercially available to get nominated. It means that the song must be available on major streaming platforms. The academy will consider the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.

In this context, however, the track was available earlier but was pulled down due to copyright issues. Furthermore, there was not enough clarity on approval from artists and labels. For quite some time, labels in the music industry have been cautioning platforms about conflicted content. They have been asking them to remove music that violates copyright norms.

In April this year, Universal Music Group asked all streaming services to remove AI-generated content. In addition, Google and UMG announced a combined campaign to eliminate AI-generated content. In fact, the duo are mulling over separate licenses for tracks made using AI.

What Does This Mean for the Music Industry?

In Hollywood, the writers have launched a campaign against AI. In the music industry as well, the trend is catching up. The protestors are saying that technology can leave them jobless. The entertainment industry is now highly-penetrated. It means that many writers and artists may continue to use the technology. After all, it is not a cakewalk to track reams of data to check copyrights in them.

Many developing production houses can use it and release their content over the internet easily. Since some big organizations are trying to prevent such a situation, the industry may see some better outcomes as well. The music and movie lovers will have to wait and see how this plays out in the future.