According to consequence.net, Billboard has reported that YouTube is in negotiations with record labels to launch a new AI tool that will allow creators to make videos by using voices from other popular musicians. YouTube was hoping to introduce a beta version of the tool with a small selection of artists to a “select group” of creators during its Made On YouTube event back in September. However, licensing agreements with the major labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group has delayed those future plans.
It has also been difficult for YouTube to find popular names to participate in the AI tool because some artists are concerned about how creators could use their voices to deliver messages or sing lyrics that they do not approve of. According Billboard’s sources, the music labels have viewed this deal with YouTube as a vital “framework” for the use of AI, with a few key points in the negotiations.
Along with the questions of how the AI model is trained and whether artists will have the option to either opt in or out, which means figuring out monetization is a complicated task. Although YouTube’s Content ID system is already able to identify and monetize copyrighted works in user generated videos, the deal will have to sort out whether artists will get paid for their music being used as “an input” through the AI model or the “output” created by the tool.
Figuring out how publishing rights factor into the equation is even more complex. YouTube would have to pay hundreds of dollars to songwriters whose work would be sampled for the beta tool and would likely prefer to pay a lump sum for licensing, which publishers would have to divide among their writers.
Despite all factors label executives are invested in the idea of getting a deal done because they want to be seen as “proponents of progress.” Back in April the use of AI-generated vocals happened when an artist named ghostwriter released a song titled “heart on my sleeve” which mimicked the voices of artists Drake and The Weeknd. When the track went viral, UMG issued a statement criticizing the alleged “infringing content created with generative AI.”
However, major record labels have taken a low key stance as streaming services have acquiesced requests to take down recordings using AI generated vocals made to sound like popular musicians. Over the past several months, Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl has acknowledged that the industry would have to “embrace the technology, because it’s not like you can put technology in bottle,” while UMG CEO Lucian Grainge shared his belief that AI has the potential to “amplify human imagination and enrich musical creativity in extraordinary new ways.”
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