Artificial intelligence gives new voice to deceased artists on Spotify

At the dawn of the digital age, the use of artificial intelligence in the music industry continues to grow, generating both fascination and controversy. Recently, there has been the emergence of unreleased tracks attributed to deceased artists, including tracks derived from the styles of iconic figures such as Blaze Foley and Guy Clark. This practice, facilitated by advanced AI systems, calls into question intellectual property and artistic authenticity, while confronting platforms such as Spotify with new ethical and technical imperatives.Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the music industry by enabling the creation of unreleased tracks for deceased artists, as seen on Spotify. AI-generated songs have been attributed to artists such as Blaze Foley and Guy Clark, provoking both fascination and controversy. This article explores the impact of AI in music, the reactions of streaming platforms, and the implications for the future of the music industry. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Music In early July, the bandThe Velvet Sundown made a name for themselves on music streaming platforms thanks to their use of artificial intelligence. As their Spotify listeners surpassed one million per month, the Deezer platform claimed to have detected that the band’s music was entirely generated by AI. This event marked a turning point in how AI could transform the music creation process.

Posthumous Song Creation for Deceased Artists

Recently, tracks created by artificial intelligence

have emerged on the pages of deceased artists, such as Blaze Foley, tragically murdered in 1989, with a new track titled « Together. » While the track vaguely echoes his style, it features AI-generated cover art depicting a young blond man, unrelated to the singer. Similarly, the track « Happened To You, » presented as an unreleased song by Grammy-winning artist Guy Clark, is also artificially attributed to this late artist. Reactions and Implications for Streaming Platforms Following these discoveries, Spotify quickly removed some of these problematic creations, accusing SoundOn, an affiliate of the Chinese group TikTok, of violating its policy against misleading content.

Craig McDonald, head of Lost Art Record, stated that these practices harmed artists’ reputations and that Spotify needed to implement appropriate safeguards to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Ethical and Financial Issues for the Music Industry

The creation of music using AI, while innovative, raises important ethical and financial questions. Faced with the proliferation of artificially created content, Universal Music France CEO Olivier Nusse discussed the development of new remuneration rules focused on « real music, » potentially offering users a more expensive subscription. This debate reflects the need to review business models and regulations to protect the interests of authentic artists. The Future of Music Generated by Artificial Intelligence As artificial intelligence continues to develop, it is imperative to strike a balance between technological innovation and respect for human artistic contributions. The evolution of this technology poses crucial challenges for the music industry and could reshape our understanding and appreciation of sonic art. Implementing ethical guidelines to govern the use of AI in music may well become an industry imperative.