The Recording Academy, the professional organization that annually presents its famous Grammy Awards for music, recently updated its eligibility rules to protect human creation. They now stipulate that only artists in the flesh can compete for an award. According to these new criteria, a *“work that does not contain a human author is not eligible in any category”.
The US association, however, stipulates that musical works containing AI elements will be eligible for a Grammy Award, but under certain conditions. “The contribution of the human author in the work submitted for approval must be significant and more than minimal”just as it should be “relevant” for the category in which the work competes. In other words, a track competing in the Songwriting category must display “significant and more than minimal human authorship” regarding its music and/or lyrics.
At a time when tracks generated by AI raise many questions, particularly relating to respect for intellectual property, the new rules of the Grammy Awards indicate that the creator(s) of these algorithms will not be eligible for a reward.
These new eligibility criteria will go into effect for the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, to be held in 2024 in Los Angeles. For now, no nominee has yet been announced and no one knows if artificial intelligence will interfere in the most popular ceremony in the music industry.
Fad or true revolution?
There is no doubt that the intrusion of this new technology is already disrupting the sector. A fake song by Drake and The Weeknd, composed by AI, has generated millions of views on TikTok, while French DJ David Guetta used two tools to write a song that mimics the voice and style of American rapper Eminem. He posted a short excerpt on social networks “to have fun”while claiming that he has no intention of commercializing the track.
The prospect of an AI-dominated music industry is pushing artists, record labels, streaming services and professional organizations to step up. Back in March, the Recording Academy was one of the signatories to a high-profile open letter calling for a six-month break from AI software development.
This symbolic step underlines the need to regulate the use of these programs in the music industry, according to Harvey Mason, director of the Recording Academy. “AI will undoubtedly shape the future of our industry. The idea of being caught off guard and not caring about it is unacceptable”he said in an interview published on the Grammy Awards website.