However, not every form of use of artificial intelligence is permitted.
Spotify has already had some problems with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the past, for example when the AI song “Heart On My Sleeve” was released with the fake voices of Drake and The Weeknd. This had to be removed from the streaming platform after it had already reached 20 million streams within 48 hours. Now Spotify boss Daniel Ek comments on the use of AI in the music world and especially on Spotify.
In an interview with “BBC News” He stated that in his opinion AI could be used usefully in some areas, but it should not be used to imitate artists and their voices.
According to Daniel Ek, there are three areas in which AI would currently be used in music, including Spotify. Some of them are more acceptable to him, others less. The use of artificial intelligence as a kind of tool, such as autotune, to improve music would be entirely acceptable. Songs that are inspired by certain artists and are then generated by AI, but do not completely imitate anyone, would be controversial. However, a clear imitation of a person would not be acceptable.
However, according to Ek, regulating AI for appropriate use would be easier said than done, as it would not always be easy to distinguish an imitation from an original. He told BBC News: “You can imagine someone uploading a song and claiming to be Madonna even if it’s not. We’ve seen pretty much everything people have tried to do to manipulate our system in Spotify’s history.”
In the case of the fake song “Heart On My Sleeve”, the use of AI drew attention to further problems: the track would be nominated for a Grammy in the categories “Best Rap Song” and “Song of the Year”, but both awards would be accepted to the author of the song and not to the artist.
The nomination was only possible because it was an original produced by a human person. However, the nomination was ultimately withdrawn because one of the requirements for submission was that a piece had to be available nationwide. However, this condition was no longer met because the Universal Music Group (UMG) removed the song shortly after its release.
The head of UMG, Harvey Mason Jr., then called for people to use artificial intelligence more consciously and not to be confused by it. He also emphasized that the Academy that awards the Grammy was founded to recognize and support human artists. This would not have been the case in the case of the imitation Drake and The Weeknd song.