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No topic has grabbed the music industry’s attention more this year than artificial intelligence. This technique has proven useful for creating basic melodies, speeding up the production process, and mimicking superstar vocals. With record labels, artists and fans watching with curiosity and vigilance as to how AI will revolutionize music production, the Grammy Awards considered an important step towards the ceremony late last week. , considered establishing a new rule that AI generates independently. Only human creators are eligible for awards. The full text of the new rules can be found here.
To avoid misunderstandings, this does not completely prohibit AI itself. While AI-assisted songs can still be submitted, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said: rolling stone, Only parts where a human creator was in the driver’s seat are eligible for awards. AI voice clones themselves, with or without permission, are not eligible for awards this year. However, a human songwriter could win an award for writing a song featuring her AI vocals, and a human artist could win an award for her performance of a song written by an AI algorithm. And even if the performance contains AI, the performance is allowed as long as the track is more human-made.
“What we are doing right now is continuing to appreciate and celebrate human creation,” says Mason Jr. “This is an attempt to find the right answer. We strive to do this right, and will continue to evaluate this technology as it advances, and the decisions we make at the Academy allow us to continue to serve and protect our music stakeholders, music makers, and the music community. I want to do it.”
Those less familiar with AI and music might think mostly of viral songs featuring voice clones of famous artists, but it’s done in a deeper, not necessarily controversial or audible way. AI can help speed up mastering and stem separation, as Paul McCartney described for taking John Lennon’s vocals out of old demos. Given the speed at which technology develops, Mason Jr. doesn’t see the new guidelines as forward-thinking policies that would actually be enforced years later. He expects it to be needed now.
Mason Jr. talks about new rule changes, watching AI make its way into the recording studio, and his own conversation with the songwriter behind the AI Drake & The Weeknd song that rocked the industry. rice field.
Some songs with AI technology have hit the scene this year, but they’re still new. Why is now the time to update the rulebook?
I want to say right away that nothing prevents you from incorporating AI-generated material into your process. I’ve seen those headlines. We are not banning AI music. We are simply saying that the AI portion of a submitted song or album is not eligible for awards or nominations. Other parts of these songs may also be covered. AI in music is still in the Wild West, but we expect AI materials to be submitted for consideration, so we want to act quickly. Because without some degree of clarity, trying to assess who qualifies and who qualifies can be utter confusion. no. This was an opportunity to set guidelines for how we should approach the upcoming awards season.
This isn’t just a future look, do you think there will be an AI track submitted this year?
I regularly see AI being used in the recording sessions I participate in in the studio. With topliners using it, people creating tracks, and AI spewing MIDI breakouts of stems that can be used in songs, there’s definitely an engagement going on. This year, you’ll see material where AI is involved in the process. That’s why our head of awards, Ruby Marchand, brought this to our attention. And I think it’s wise to consider the possibility of this happening this year. If this technology had been five or ten years ahead of him, we would probably be racing to incorporate the language into the rules. But given the prevalence and relevance of this topic, and the style of creativity that’s happening right now, I think it’s possible that sometime this year or next, we’ll have AI in the songs we’re working on.
How do you determine when AI has been used?
We expect the creative community to be candid about who writes the songs and who plays them. We always have the opportunity after winning and if we find that someone is not being honest, we will want to look into it and we have the right to do so. But we come from a genuine community of people who make music, creative people and artists, and we feel they keep us informed. But that’s just for this year. I don’t know what will happen next year. We don’t know what this technology will bring, whether it’s markers in the music or metadata that tells us exactly where things were created, who made them, when and how.
As I said earlier, this is fluid and changing. We will continue to consider it, so we will be devoted to it. We do not intend to leave this as a convention or a rule. We will continue to make sure it works year after year, or even monthly.
as a producer, Do you find these new developments in AI exciting or scary?
As someone who’s spent his life learning to make music or play an instrument half-heartedly, that’s the scary part about seeing a computer that can do it instantly. . But it’s exciting to see productivity and possibilities, and it’s exciting to see the speed at which ideas cycle and try things out. It always comes down to the taste, curation and insight of the creator. And that’s still the exciting part. It’s not like, “Hey, let’s make a hot record and then go get some coffee.” It will work with technology and blend it with human creativity.
What you need to understand is the payout structure and compensation for creators. Is that original vocalist getting paid? [on AI cloned songs]They absolutely have to if their voice is to be used.? We need a way to protect them and get them credited, or a way to reliably distinguish between the human and AI versions of that vocal performance. All these things need to be resolved both within the industry and at the legal level.
The Academy requires that submitted material does not infringe copyright. Whether or not voice cloning is infringing remains a thorny question, even if the label claims it does. How does the Academy see it?
I am not going to take that position, and the Academy is not going to take that position yet, on what we think is right. There is a lot of homework to be done before you can really take a formal position. What we’re trying to say is that if you use another artist’s voice, it’s not eligible for a Grammy nomination. Personally, I think that if you’re using an artist’s voice, that artist has certain rights that need to be worked out, but I’ll leave that aside.
Are there any AI songs that particularly caught your attention?
There were many. David Guetta had a ghostwriter song. There are some songs that have caught our attention and I think that’s why we have these conversations.
You mentioned recently that you’ve been in touch with the Ghostwriter who wrote “Heart on My Sleeve” with AI Drake’s vocals? What were those discussions like?
yes. We had some conversations about the song, then about AI in general and the music industry in general.he was part of our round table [over video call] Last week, we spoke with technology leaders, platforms, labels, creatives, and academy leaders. Like everyone else, I had no idea who he was. I don’t know yet, but the camera is off and it’s a picture of someone in a blanket. I reached out, he reached out his hand, and my message to him was, “You are an innovator.” You are changing the game now. I would love to talk to you and give you a little headache. ’ He was very helpful in summarizing our thoughts on AI, what are the potential dangers and potential benefits?
How was he received at this roundtable? How could there have been so much controversy over how these songs were made?
He was very knowledgeable in my opinion which was very well received. He is a very intelligent and thoughtful person. He didn’t say this to me, but my feeling is that he may have done this to start a conversation. And he did a business-shaking thing in our industry that brought a lot of attention to a topic that needed discussion.
