Users on YouTube may soon be able to mimic their favorite artists using artificial intelligence. The video sharing platform is working with record companies to obtain the rights to some of their artists’ music to develop an AI tool that would allow users to create audio using vocals from their favorite musicians, according to Bloomberg.
No official deal has been made between the entities yet as negotiations are still in progress.
The move by YouTube could be a risky one that could come with backlash as some musicians have shown in the past that they are not fans of the rise of AI in the music industry.
Related: Senate bill cracks down on AI replicas in important U.S. industry
Rapper Ice Cube spoke out earlier this year against AI in music. While on the “Full Send Podcast,” he labeled the new tool “demonic." “I think AI is demonic. I think AI is going to get a backlash from real people,” he said.
Music artist Sting also highlighted the threat AI poses in the music industry while speaking to BBC in May. "The building blocks of music belong to us, to human beings," he said. "That's going to be a battle we all have to fight in the next couple of years: Defending our human capital against AI."
Also, In Selena Gomez’s 2022 documentary “My Mind and Me,” the actress and singer revealed that AI in the music industry terrifies her.
“I don’t think anybody in my field wants to feel like they need to lean on a computer in order to translate their story or what they’re trying to say,” she said. “It terrifies me, to be honest, the whole AI thing, but I don’t think you could ever replace what a human being can write … Lil Wayne said it really well, and he was basically saying that there’s no other human like who you are. And that’s all it should be.”
Some artists have embraced AI in the music industry but have received backlash from fans for doing so. Musician Grimes said in a tweet in April that she invites AI to use her voice to create music.
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
When some fans expressed concern about her decision, she responded in a tweet saying that her goal as an artist is to push boundaries.
We expect a certain amount of chaos. grimes is an art project, not a music project. The ultimate goal has always been to push boundaries rather than have a nice song. The point is to poke holes in the simulation and see what happens even if it's a bad outcome for us https://t.co/RSAW4xQCAi
— Grimes (@Grimezsz) April 24, 2023
Universal Music Group, which represents artists such as Billie Eilish, Drake, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift etc. has had an ongoing battle with the rise of AI in music. The record label has been outspoken about how it threatens its music library and artists.
“UMG’s success has been, in part, due to embracing new technology and putting it to work for our artists — as we have been doing with our own innovation around AI for some time already,” UMG said in a statement on April 17. “However, the training of generative AI using our artists’ music … begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on.”
