- Nicola Rutherford
- BBC news
image source, Getty Images
The stars have truly collaborated on previous songs like The Ride and Life For.
A song that used artificial intelligence to clone the voices of Drake and The Weeknd will be removed from the streaming service.
Heart On My Sleeve is no longer available on Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer and Tidal.
There is also an ongoing pull from TikTok and YouTube, but some versions are still available.
This follows scathing criticism from publisher Universal Music Group that the song violates copyright laws.
The music publisher said the platform has a “legal and ethical responsibility” to prevent the use of services that harm artists.
The track simulates Drake and The Weeknd’s trading verse about pop star and actress Selena Gomez, who was previously dating The Weeknd.
The creator, known as @ghostwriter, claims the song was created by software trained on musicians’ voices.
After being posted on a number of platforms on Friday, the track went viral over the weekend.
It was first removed Monday afternoon by Apple, Deezer and Tidal, followed by TikTok, Spotify and YouTube.
A link to the original version of the song on YouTube states, “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Universal Music Group.”
It was streamed 629,439 times on Spotify before it was removed. At Spotify’s minimum royalty rate of $0.003 per stream, you’ve earned around $1,888 (£1,500).
Universal Music Group, which releases both artists through Republic Records, says it has been doing its own innovations with AI for some time.
However, “Training generative AI with the artist’s music (which means both a breach of contract and violation of copyright law) and the availability of infringing content created using generative AI on DSPs” added gender. [digital service providers]poses the question of which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of history that artists, fans, and human creative expression want to be on, or the side of deepfakes, fraud, and denial of just compensation to artists. is on the side of
“These examples demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent their services from being used in a way that harms artists. Doing so is encouraging because we know they need to be part of the solution.”
An intellectual property (IP) lawyer told the BBC that the law on copyright and artificial intelligence is not simple.
RPC’s Jani Ihalainen said UK copyright law gives performers certain rights over public performances, including making copies of recordings of particular performances.
“However, ‘deepfake’ voices that do not specifically copy performances are likely not to be covered, and may even be considered protected works themselves.”
“Current laws are wholly inadequate to address deepfakes and potential problems with intellectual property and other rights.”
Tony Rigg, who teaches music industry management at the University of Central Lancashire, said it will take time to resolve these issues.
“Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this case is the violation of moral rights,” he said. It is up to the law to provide remedies.
“The use of AI in the music industry is a double-edged sword, with tensions arising from the juxtaposition of its potential to undermine and augment the value of human creativity.
“The possibilities are vast and evolutionary, but in what promises to be a revolutionary era, it is difficult to fully imagine the potential of AI to impact the creation, consumption and business of music. is.”
Neither artist has yet responded to the song, but Drake has recently expressed frustration at having his voice duplicated.
“This is the last straw AI,” he posted on Instagram after coming across a fan-made video that appeared to rap Ice Spice’s track Munch (Feeling U).
