AI-Generated Drake Track Nominated for Grammy

The New York Times reported on September 5 that a viral track from the anonymous producer “Ghostwriter” featuring an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated vocal track by the rapper Drake has been submitted for Grammy consideration.

Ghostwriter has submitted “Heart on My Sleeve” to the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammys, for consideration in the Best Rap Song and Song of the Year categories, a representative told the New York Times.

In both categories, the award is given to the songwriter, who the ghostwriter representative also affirmed is a human. Earlier in 2023, the Grammys revised their policy for the forthcoming award season, stating that AI-generated music is eligible for an award.

The catch is that the recording must be nominated in a category for a human-created portion of the song. Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Grammys, verified the policy and stated that AI-infused music is “absolutely eligible” for a Grammy nomination.

“As far as the creative side, it’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human.”

Regarding the Ghostwriter AI-Drake collaboration, he emphasized to the New York Times that the Academy also considers whether or not the composition is commercially available, per Grammy regulations.

A track must have “general distribution” and be available on streaming platforms to be eligible. However, “Heart on My Sleeve” was removed from all major streaming services, despite the opinion of industry experts that its use of artificial intelligence fell within a “legal gray area.

In April, Universal Music Group, one of the most prominent record labels in the industry, sent a mass email to major streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, requesting that they prevent artificial intelligence (AI) services from extracting melodies and lyrics from copyrighted songs and remove songs that violate copyright.

It was subsequently reported that Spotify had increased its policing of tracks violating copyright infringement on its platform, as well as its barring of artificial streaming of songs, to increase the number of listens.