Grammy for AI generated music


I’m elderly and a seasoned listener. I am also a traditionalist and institutionalist. I grew up in Memphis,TN listening and having the honor to meet some amazing musicians — like Elvis, Issac Hayes, Al Green, Staple Singers, Otis Redding, Barkays, Booker T & MG’s, and Rufus Thomas. Stax Records, King Studios, Blues Alley, and Beale Street were only a bus stop away, where they sometimes welcomed limited resource black kids like me into the studios and clubs. Today, I heard a newly released, AI generated R&B ballad. It was strikingly good. The originator openly acknowledged that she could not sing nor play an instrument, but was very creative. AI gave her a creative vehicle. Will a day come when the Academy recognizes and lauds the people talent that oversees AI developed music? I for one think it’s in our music future. Much like film ultimately came to partner with stage.

wfowenmd

Yes. I want to make a snide remark about country... but I won't 

I heard a gosple / pop song in the vein of some of Beyoncé liike female vocalist the other day. I don't listen to that kind of music... but if you slipped it into a play list, I probably would not have noticed. 

This is what AI comments about this AI-generated song.

Song Artist U.S. Paid Downloads
Walk My Walk Breaking Rust 5,900
Next Thing You Know Jordan Davis 4,800
Try That In a Small Town Jason Aldean 4,200

Then Breaking Rust would appear at #1 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart that week.

🔹 Context

Because digital downloads have sharply declined industry-wide (most consumption now comes from streaming), the absolute numbers are much smaller than a decade ago.
That means a coordinated fan effort — or even viral AI-curiosity — can push a song to #1 with only a few thousand sales.

One aspect of interest (at least to me) is that machine generated output is not copyrightable. And since the music publishing and sound recording business depends on copyright to control compositions and recordings, I'd be curious to know how the originator (and whoever claims ownership) parses the machine generated "authorship" from that created by humans. Conceivably, there could be a copyright in the sound recording if some human is involved in the performance, production and/or engineering elements. This whole area is not new in copyright doctrine but AI has demanded that these fundamental principles be revisited; it was the subject of a recent study by the Copyright Office, which prompted some political action (which I do not want to delve into). 

New technology always challenges old paradigms. Yes, to get a new voice, it trains on existing voices. One of the open questions.