LOS ANGELES (AP) — Last month, the Recording Academy grammy awards To better reflect the evolving music industry.Among the newly enacted guidelines, protocols related to technical progress in machine learning Headlines that caught our attention: “Only human creators” can earn the music industry’s highest honor for their decisions aimed at using artificial intelligence in popular music.
The rules read, in part, that “works that do not contain human writings do not qualify in any category.”
As the music industry continues to embrace this new technology, so will the Grammys, said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO and chairman of the Recording Academy.
The Grammy Awards return to Los Angeles on the first Sunday in February. The Recording Academy has announced some key dates ahead of its 66th annual show celebrating the best of music.
More changes are happening at the Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy announced Tuesday that three new categories will be added to the awards ceremony: Best Pop Dance Recording, Best African Music Performance and Best Alternative Jazz Album.
Grammy Award-winning pianist George Winston has died. Winston fused jazz, classical, folk and other styles on his million-selling albums such as “Autumn”, “Winter Into Spring” and “December”.
“Here’s a very simple headline statement: Any music containing AI, or elements created by AI, is absolutely eligible for Grammy nominations and consideration.” Times have changed. Mason told the Associated Press. “What doesn’t happen is that we don’t give the AI part a Grammy or a Grammy nomination.”
For example, if an AI or voice modeling program performed the lead vocals on a song, that track would qualify for the Songwriting category, but would not qualify for the Performance category. “What we’re playing is not man-made,” he explains. “Conversely, if a song is sung by a real human in the studio, and all the performances are performed by a human, but the lyrics and track are written by an AI, then the song does not qualify for the composer or lyricist category. ”
“As long as humans contribute more than the bare minimum, it means a lot to us and is always considered for nominations and awards,” he continued. “We do not want technology to replace human creativity. That is why we have taken this special position in this awards cycle.”
The Recording Academy has long considered setting rules around AI, given the popularity of new songs created with AI technology. “Emin-AI-em” by David GuettaAI configuration TikTok user @ghostwriter977Grimes Voice modeling AI software.
To establish AI guidelines, the Recording Academy undertook extensive research, including hosting technology summits.
“We had a meeting with the Copyright Office. We talked about the future and what it would look like at the federal and legislative level,” Mason said, noting that conversations about AI were “in the last six months. It really stood out,” he added.
The new Grammy Awards AI protocol was announced three days after Paul McCartney shared: “The Beatles’ Last Record” It was composed by using artificial intelligence to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo. Without knowing the extent of the technology, Mason could neither confirm nor deny whether the song was eligible for a Grammy nomination.
“Let’s see what happens,” he said. “But based on the early descriptions I’ve heard, I think there are perfectly qualified elements in this piece.”
So can Grammy viewers expect to see works created at least in part using AI nominated for awards next year?
It is impossible to predict what will be submitted. But, as Mason affirms, “People are using that technology. I imagine there will be a lot of records, a lot of songs this year, so a few of them will be nominated.” We’ll see if, but maybe some songs will be submitted.”
The 2024 Grammy Awards will once again be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Sunday, February 4, 2024aired live on CBS and streamed live on Paramount+.
