Universal Music Group has clarified that they view all types of AI music as “deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation” said in a statement. They are asking music streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify to block all music artificially created featuring one of their artists.
The urgent need to take AI off streaming platforms and social media comes after an anonymous producer — named ghostwriter — released a viral song earlier this month that garnered more than 10 million views on TikTok created entirely with AI featuring a fake Drake and the Weeknd.
What has made these record label companies take extreme notice of this song “Heart on My Sleeve,” in particular, is that people actually like the song, and the average person would not be able to tell if it was made without AI.
UMG has stated that they do not oppose the technology, but they are concerned about AI’s ability to swiftly reproduce melodies and even vocal performances of musicians. This development could potentially pose a risk to UMG’s vast collection of music and artists who generate a significant amount of revenue, amounting to billions of dollars. While the ability to create a song with the vocals of your favorite artist is amazing there are some moral and ethical drawbacks.
Since AI technology is so new to our society there isn’t much legislation and control over it. This moment may be the beginning of a war between AI music and record label companies.