In order to produce new songs, Grimes encouraged musicians to artificially clone her voice.
Claire Boucher, the pop singer’s true name, promised to “split 50% royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice.”
“I treat every artist I collaborate with the same. Without any restrictions, feel free to utilise my voice, she tweeted.
Her announcement comes as the music business struggles to respond to a wave of AI songs made using the voices of artists.
The Weeknd and Drake’s song Heart On My Sleeve had deep-faked voices, and last week Universal Music successfully petitioned streaming sites to remove the music.
The label issued a statement in which it claimed that “the training of generative AI using our artists’ music” was “a violation of copyright law”. That stance, however, has not been litigated and continues to be ambiguous in law.
According to a story by The Verge, Universal was able to have the song removed from YouTube because it included an illegal sample of the producer Metro Boomin’ saying his name, which was covered by copyright, rather than because they had any claims to the song’s actual composition, which seems to be an original one.
In this context, it should be noted that copyright law is largely built on the concept of producing a copy, whether it be of a melody or lyric, through the use of a sample, or through the creation of a derivative work like a remix. It appears that Heart On My Sleeve did not directly borrow from any of Drake’s earlier tracks.
In addition, the US Copyright Office has declared that AI art, including music, cannot be protected by copyrights since it is “not the product of human authorship.”
It’s still not clear if human-made work that incorporates AI may be protected by copyright.
Grimes expressed her enthusiasm for the “idea of open sourcing all art and killing copyright” on Twitter.
The performer stated that while she was already developing a programme “that should simulate my voice well,” she would also take into consideration making a cappella files available for anyone to train their own software on.
Fans instantly uploaded links to songs they had written using her voice after hearing about her statement.
The Canadian artist remarked that she was eager to test the technology as a “guinea pig,” adding, “I think it’s cool to be fused with a machine.”
I'll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings. pic.twitter.com/KIY60B5uqt
— 𝔊𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 (@Grimezsz) April 24, 2023
The singer said that she Grimes “may do copyright takedowns ONLY for rly rly toxic lyrics” in response to a question about how she would respond if others utilised her voice to create violent, racist, or explicit content.
She referred to Mel Brooks’ iconic parody, the Producers, saying, “That’s the only rule… [I] don’t wanna be responsible for a Nazi anthem unless it’s somehow in jest, a la Producers I guess.”
Grimes
In addition, she said she would exclude songs that were “anti-abortion or [something] like that”.
Grimes then clarified in a tweet that she wasn’t sure she had the legal authority to request the removal of tracks that feature her voice.
Grimes has always been interested in the interaction between people and machines; songs like We Appreciate Power and Flesh Without Blood examine the moral dilemmas associated with artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk, the inventor of SpaceX and CEO of Twitter, collaborated with her to write X A-12, an AI-generated lullaby for her first kid, in 2020. (According to Grimes, the character itself reflects “the Elven spelling of AI.”)
She said Grimes in an interview with the New York Times that the software had given her the idea to design “a better baby sleeping situation” for their kid.
In the interview, Grimes she stated, “I think AI is amazing. In terms of creativity, I believe AI can take the place of people.
“Therefore, I believe that at some point, we as a species will want to discuss how much AI will influence art.”