(CNN) One of the most talked-about songs to circulate on TikTok and climb the Spotify charts recently featured the familiar voices of best-selling artists Drake and The Weeknd. Drake and The Weeknd seem to have nothing to do with it.
The viral track “Heart on My Sleeve” is by an anonymous TikTok user named Ghostwriter977, who claims to have used artificial intelligence to generate the voices of Drake and The Weeknd for the track.
“I was a ghostwriter for years and was paid almost nothing, just for the major labels to make a profit,” Ghostwriter977 wrote in the video’s comments. ”
“Heart on My Sleeve” has amassed over 11 million views across multiple videos in just a few days and has been streamed hundreds of thousands of times on Spotify.The original TikTok video had It appears to have been deleted, and the song has since been removed from streaming services such as YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify. (TikTok, YouTube, Apple and Spotify did not respond to requests for comment.)
The song’s exact origin remains unclear, with some suggesting it may have been a publicity stunt. It may only add to anxiety within the music industry as it continues to attack the threat posed by a new crop of powerful AI tools.
Universal Music Group, the music label representing Drake, The Weeknd, and numerous other superstars, sent an urgent letter to streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music in April, urging AI platforms to remove copyrighted songs. I asked to be blocked from training melodies and lyrics. .
“Generative AI training using our artists’ music represents both a breach of contract and a violation of copyright law, as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI at digital service providers. All stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deepfakes, fraud and denial of just compensation to artists,” the company said. said in a statement this week, to CNN.
The record label says the platform has a “fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of its services in a way that harms artists.”
But policing AI-generated music can present unique challenges. The legal status of AI work remains unclear, the tools to create it are widely accessible, and social media makes it easier than ever to distribute it.
Unknown creators and powerful AI tools
AI-generated music is nothing new. Taryn Southern’s debut song “Break Free” was written and produced by AI, entered the top 100 radio charts in 2018, and is now an AI music artist (i.e. not human) VAVA. Single out in Thailand.
But new AI tools make it quick and easy to create compelling images, sounds, videos, and documents. Several Services like Boomy are making concrete use of generative AI to make music production more accessible.
Little is known about the person behind the Ghostwriter977 account or the tools the creator used to create the track. The user did not respond to her CNN request for comment.
Rapper Drake performs on stage at the ‘Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert’ at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on December 9, 2022.
A link in the About section of a user’s TikTok account directs the user to Laylo’s page. Laylo is a website where fans can sign up to be notified by artists when new songs drop or when merch or tickets become available. The company told CNN that the account was likely signed up to build a fan base and has resulted in “tens of thousands” of signups over the past few days.
Laylo CEO Alec Erin denies it The company was behind the viral track, as some have speculated, but Erin told CNN that whoever made it was “obviously a really savvy creator” and that “Laylo A perfect example of the power of using and owning your audience.
ABI Research analyst Michael Inouye said “Heart on My Sleeve” could have been created in several ways, depending on the sophistication of the AI. and level of musical talent.
“If a music artist is involved, we can create the background music and lyrics and train an AI model with Drake and The Weekend content to recreate their voice and singing style,” he said. . “The AI could have generated most of the songs and lyrics based on the training data set and the prompts given to direct the AI model, replicating the artists again.”
He added that part of this appeal and virality of the song comes from “how good AI is at creating content that includes celebrity duplication.”
Roberto Nickson, who recently built an AI platform to help improve productivity and workflow, said: posted a video Twitter shows how easy it is to record a verse and train an AI model to replace the vocals. He used the artist once known as Kanye West as an example.
“The results will blow your mind,” he said. “You would hear a song by your favorite artist, and it would be totally unrecognizable, and you wouldn’t know if it was theirs.”
legal implications
The entertainment industry has seen these issues arise, but regulation has lagged behind the rapid pace of AI development.
Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney Audrey Benoalide said some people argued that “Heart on My Sleeve” didn’t infringe copyright because it looked like an “original” song. rice field.
“The ghostwriter also made it public that Drake and The Weeknd were not involved in the production of the song, which benefits consumers by misleading the song into actually being a collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd. It may protect you from ‘passing off’ allegations that are generated,” she said in an email to CNN.
However, Benoualid argues that machine learning and generative AI programs can replicate the authorship of existing works by either making copies of existing works and training the AI, or by producing output that is substantially similar to existing works. It added that it could be found to infringe on rights. “Major labels will undoubtedly claim that their copyrights (and the intellectual property rights of their artists) have been violated, and have already begun to do so.
Michael Nash, executive vice president of Universal Music Group, said in a recent op-ed that AI music “dilutes the market, makes it harder to find original work, and violates the legal rights of artists to receive compensation from their work.” I am.”
There are no regulations that dictate what AI can and cannot train. But last month, in response to individuals seeking copyright in AI-generated works, the U.S. Copyright Office released new guidance on how to register AI-created literary, musical, and artistic works. bottom.
Copyright was determined on a case-by-case basis, followed by guidance based on how the AI tools performed and how they were used to create the final work or works. The U.S. Copyright Office to seek public input on how the law should apply to copywritten works that AI trains, and how the Copyright Office should treat those works. also announced.
“AI and copyright law and musician and label rights are clashing (again) and it will take time for this chaos to subside,” Benualid said. “At the moment, the landscape is not very clear.”
Inouye said that if AI-generated content is negatively associated with celebrities, not only will the content be removed, it will be suspended and suspended from operation, potentially as a basis for lawsuits seeking damages. said it could be.
“Conversely, if the content becomes popular and the creator monetizes the artist’s image or likeness, the artist may likewise demand the content be removed and sue for financial gain. “He said.
But for now, those involved may have to play whack-a-mole. Services such as Spotify pulled “Heart on My Sleeve,” but that version appears to continue to circulate on other online platforms as of Tuesday.
Even songs made with artificial intelligence can find real staying power online.
— CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich contributed to this report.
