Large adjustments are coming to the Grammy Awards. Not solely did the Recording Academy announce a trio of recent classes earlier this week, nevertheless it has now issued new guidelines surrounding the eligibility of AI-created music for Grammy consideration.
Per Selection, the brand new protocols mainly say that music made solely by AI can’t be nominated for a Grammy. Human-created work made utilizing AI know-how, nevertheless, is eligible, as long as there may be “significant” human contribution.
“A piece that options parts of A.I. materials… is eligible in relevant Classes,” the brand new protocol reads partially, earlier than additional stipulating, “Solely human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration for, nominated for, or win a Grammy Award… A piece that incorporates no human authorship will not be eligible in any Classes.”
The Recording Academy’s new guidelines come throughout a contentious time for the music business because it grapples with the growing quantity of AI music. Earlier this week, Paul McCartney introduced plans to launch a brand new Beatles track that he stated was made potential by AI know-how.
“[Peter Jackson] was in a position to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little little bit of cassette,” McCartney defined to BBC radio. “We had John’s voice and a piano, and he may separate them with AI. So after we got here to make what would be the final Beatles report, it was a demo that John had [and] we have been in a position to take John’s voice and get it pure by this AI.”
Assessing the brand new Grammys protocol, it’s potential that this forthcoming, AI-assisted Beatles track may fall inside the tips of awards eligibility. For instance, if the track to return is “Now and Then,” a track written by Lennon two years earlier than his demise that McCartney has incessantly expressed a want to complete, the Recording Academy may actually deem the “human authorship part” of the track significant sufficient to qualify, even with AI-extricated vocals. Lennon and McCartney, in any case, are thought-about to be two of the best songwriters of all time, and the attract of a “new” collaboration from them may override any issues about lifting the late Lennon’s voice with out his data or consent.
Nonetheless, synthetic intelligence stays a divisive topic within the music business. Spotify eliminated tens of hundreds of AI-generated tracks from its platform earlier this yr, citing issues about artificially inflated streaming numbers, and in April, a track made by a TikToker that used AI to breed the voices of Drake and The Weeknd was yanked from streaming companies shortly after going viral. Common Music Group, which represents The Weeknd and Drake, advised the BBC: “The coaching of generative AI utilizing our artists’ music… begs the query as to which aspect of historical past all stakeholders within the music ecosystem need to be on: the aspect of artists, followers and human artistic expression, or on the aspect of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.”
Along with its new AI tips, the Recording Academy has additionally added three new awards classes for the 2024 Grammys: Greatest Different Jazz Album, Greatest Pop Dance Recording, and Greatest African Music Efficiency.
And eventually, in a change that can make Grammy competitors even tighter, the 4 major classes—Album of the Yr, Music of the Yr, Report of the Yr, and Greatest New Artist—will all scale down, from 10 nominees apiece to solely eight.