Grammys CEO on new AI guidelines: Music that contains AI-created elements is eligible

LOS ANGELES –

Last month, the Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards to better reflect an evolving music industry.

Of those newly instituted guidelines, protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning sparked headlines: “Only human creators” could win the music industry’s highest honour in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music.

“A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” the rules read in part.

As the music industry continues to come to terms with this new technology, so too will the Grammys, says Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr.

Mason tells The Associated Press that “Here’s the super easy, headline statement: AI, or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period.”

But he adds that “What’s not going to happen is we are not going to give a Grammy or Grammy nomination to the AI portion.”

He explains that if an AI or voice modelling program performs the lead vocal on a song, the track would be eligible in a songwriting category, for example, but not a performance category, because “what is performing is not human creation.

But Mason says if a song was sung by an actual human in the studio, and they did all the performing, but AI wrote the lyric or the track, the song would not be eligible in a composition or a songwriting category.

The Recording Academy has long considered setting rules related to AI following the popularity of new songs created alongside AI technology: David Guetta’s “Emin-AI-em”, the AI -compositions of TikTok user @ghostwriter977, Grimes’ voice modelling AI software.

The new Grammy AI protocols were announced three days after Paul McCartney shared that “the last Beatles record” had been composed using artificial intelligence to extract John Lennon’s voice from an old demo.

Without knowing the extent of the technology, Mason couldn’t confirm or deny whether the song would be eligible for a Grammy nomination.

The 2024 Grammy Awards will return to Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, airing live on CBS and livestreamed on Paramount+.