A song featuring AI-generated vocals purporting to be Drake and the Weeknd has been pulled from streaming services by Universal Music Group (UMG) after going viral over the weekend. The label condemned the song, called Heart on My Sleeve, for “infringing content created with generative AI”.
The track was originally posted on TikTok by a user called Ghostwriter977 and shared on streaming services under the artist name Ghostwriter. By the time it was removed yesterday afternoon US time (17 April), it had racked up 600,000 Spotify streams, 15m TikTok views and 275,000 YouTube views.
UMG told Billboard magazine that the viral postings “demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists”.
UMG declined to clarify whether it had sent formal takedown requests to the streaming services and social media sites. “The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs [digital service providers], begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation,” a spokesperson said. “We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues – as they recognise they need to be part of the solution.”
Last week, UMG urged streaming platforms to block AI companies from accessing the label’s songs, the Financial Times reported, saying that it had become aware that certain services had been trained on copyrighted music “without obtaining the required consents”, and warned the platforms: “We will not hesitate to take steps to protect our rights and those of our artists.”
The music industry is beginning to mobilise against the perceived threat of fake songs. In October, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) warned that AI companies were violating copyrights en masse by using music to train their machines. “That use is unauthorised and infringes our members’ rights by making unauthorised copies of our members’ works.” Last month, the Entertainment Industry Coalition published a series of seven core principles regarding the relationship between artificial intelligence and music, detailing the need for AI to “empower human expression” while also asserting the importance of representing “creators’ interests … in policymaking”.
It is Drake’s second scuffle with an AI-generated song this week. On Friday, the Canadian rapper addressed a version of breakout US rapper Ice Spice’s song Munch that featured a fake verse by him. “This is the final straw AI,” he wrote in an Instagram story. An AI version of his voice has also recently been added to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s WAP and Don’t by rapper and songwriter Bryson Tiller.
