Ghostwriter’s A.I. song denied from the Grammys

In April, an anonymous online producer shocked the world with a viral track Heart on My Sleeve, featuring the A.I.-generated vocals of Drake and The Weeknd. The producer, known by the pseudonym “Ghostwriter,” explored possibilities of his song running for two categories in The Grammy Awards, but his submission was recently denied by the CEO of the Recording Academy.

Released on TikTok, followed by multiple other streaming platforms, “Heart on my Sleeve” received millions of views before it got taken down from various platforms following Universal Music Group’s statement regarding copyright issues of the song’s vocals.

Read also: “The future of music and the rise of A.I.”

Behind the success of the deep-fake song was Ghostwriter’s effort to clone the rapper and the singer’s voices with generative A.I., allegedly using online voice samples while he wrote the lyrics and composed the beat himself.  

Months after the song’s release, the mysterious producer posted a new song on X last week. Titled “Whiplash” and created in a similar way to “Heart on my Sleeve,” the latest release uses the cloned voices of rappers Travis Scott and 21 Savage.

Meanwhile, The New York Times (NYT) reported last week that Ghostwriter submitted an application to the upcoming Grammys for two songwriter categories, Best Rap Song and Song of the Year.

The application first seemed possible for Recording Academy’s CEO Harvey Mason said to NYT that “as far as the creative side, it’s (the application) absolutely eligible because it (the song) was written by a human”. 

On the other hand, the Grammys’ new rules and guidelines from June suggested that A.I.-infused songs may qualify to win a Grammys award as long as they fit certain criteria.

However, Mason revealed in an Instagram video on September 8 that Ghostwriter’s application has been officially kept away from the Grammys, at least for now.

“Even though it (the song) was written by a human creator, the vocals were not legally obtained, the vocals were not cleared by the label or the artists and the song is not commercially available and because of that, it’s not eligible,” said Mason in the video.

“I take this stuff very seriously,” Mason added. “It’s all complicated and it’s moving really really quickly… But please please do not be confused: the Academy is here to support and advocate and protect and represent human artists and creators, period.”