AI-Generated Track Featuring Drake And The Weeknd Eligible For Grammy Consideration Sparks Controversy

Heart On My Sleeve is an AI-generated track featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, although neither artiste was directly involved in its creation. Despite the controversy surrounding AI's role in music creation, the song gained popularity upon its release in the spring and continues to make waves, even after being taken down multiple times.

The Recording Academy CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., confirmed that the track is eligible for consideration at the Grammy Awards. This is because it was composed and arranged by a human, even though AI processed the vocals to mimic the two famous singers. Heart On My Sleeve is being considered for both Best Rap Song and Song of the Year categories that reward writing and composition rather than performance.

Universal Music Group (UMG), the label to which both Drake and The Weeknd are signed, initially issued a statement regarding the use of AI in music creation when the song was released. It expressed concerns about the rise of "deep fakes" and questioned which side of history stakeholders in the music industry wanted to be on.

UMG acknowledged its own use of AI technology for the benefit of its artistes but raised objections to generative AI being trained using their artistes' music, citing breaches of agreements and violations of copyright law. The label also mentioned the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on digital streaming platforms.

The statement emphasized the legal and ethical responsibility of platforms to prevent the misuse of their services in ways that harm artistes. UMG expressed optimism about the engagement of platform partners on these issues, recognizing the need for collective efforts to protect artistes and creative expression.