There are copyright implications, especially when artists don’t explicitly consent to their voices being reused for new songs. Patrick T. Fallon/Contributor/Getty Images
Every year, the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, must re-evaluate its guidelines and award rules to reflect factors such as changing popularity of music genres and new award categories. This year, the Academy has to account for a new upcoming artist–AI.
Generative AI has permeated many different industries including the music scene, allowing people to create entire songs just by using AI.
As shown by an AI-produced song featuring The Weeknd and Drake that went viral a few months ago, AI can create songs that sound like the real deal.
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However, there are copyright implications, especially when artists – such as The Weeknd and Drake, in this instance – do not explicitly agree to their voices being reused for new songs.
In other instances, artists approve the generation of AI music within their music. For example, The Beatles used the power of AI to restore John Lennon’s voice for a final track.
So how do these songs stack up against the standards and standards of the Grammy Awards?
“Only human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration, nominated, or win a Grammy Award,” according to the new rules of the 2024 Grammy Awards.
Although only human creators can be recognized for their work, this does not mean that music produced by AI is not recognizable.
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Music and AI content can be submitted to the Grammys for consideration, but the awards will only go to the people who contributed to the piece.
If the work has no human author and is solely dependent on AI, it is not eligible for consideration.
Additionally, in the songwriting and performance categories, the piece must be largely written or performed by one person for the work to be considered for a Grammy.
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As AI continues to impact and transform the music industry, we can expect the Recording Academy guidelines to continue to evolve as well, with AI artists one day perhaps being rewarded for their work. .
