A fake track by Canadian singers Drake and The Weeknd has garnered millions of streams online since its release on Friday, prompting record label Universal Music to call for its removal and raise intellectual property issues.
First published on TikTok, the song “Heart on my sleeve”, which has more than 15 million views on the social network, has been removed from Spotify or Apple Music catalogs at the request of Universal Music Group (UMG), which represents both artists. citing copyright infringement.
“I used an AI to create a Drake song with The Weeknd,” wrote the self-calling Ghostwriter977 in a video in which we see a figure covered in a white sheet and wearing sunglasses .
The original video has since been deleted from social media, but continues to be shared by many netizens across different platforms.
“This is just the beginning,” he wrote on his TikTok page, as new videos featuring the track are posted regularly.
AI music is here.
This is the first example of AI-generated music that *really* impressed me.
This Ghostwriter977 on TikTok made a Drake x The Weeknd track that’s actually kinda crazy?
With AI, you’ll soon be able to make unlimited music on-demand from your favorite artists. pic.twitter.com/h0KtrM9Ghz
— Mckay Wrigley (@mckaywrigley) April 16, 2023
Mixing hip-hop and rap sounds, the track clones the artists’ voices by simulating an exchange about actress Selena Gomez, with whom The Weeknd recently had a brief history.
This “begs the question of which side of history all players in the music ecosystem want to be on: on the side of artists, fans, and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakery, deceit, and artist denial of theirs.” due compensation,” Universal Music Group (UMG) told AFP.
In March, the record company wrote to streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple, urging them to block AI services from extracting melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs, according to emails obtained by the Financial Times were viewed.
The use of AI in music is a topic of discussion in the music industry, with some denouncing the abuse of rights involved and others praising its capabilities.
David Guetta recently used AI for an Eminem-style rapper voice for one of his shows. The DJ star didn’t market the track and told the BBC he wanted to “open the discussion to raise awareness”.