In the past 48 hours, an AI-generated music hype train has shot off from “oh, that’s interesting” to peak popularity on the scene, but confusion reigns as to who is running this show. To sum it up quickly: the origin story of “Heart on My Sleeve” is a strange one, and it could involve Drake, Universal Music Group, a crypto-adjacent startup, or a mix of all three. Let’s take a look at each possibility.
Drake or Universal Music Group could be behind the work. Drake is well-known for being ahead of new music trends, and artificial intelligence has been at the top of the charts lately. Universal Music Group responded to a query regarding the matter with a curious answer:” UMG’s success has been, in part, due to embracing new technology and putting it to work for our artists-as we have been doing with our own innovation around AI for some time already. With that said, however, the training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.”
The strangest suspect of all is James Murtagh-Hopkins, a senior vice president at Universal Music Group, whose answer casts suspicion on the source of the creation. Even weirder is that Universal was able to provide a link to a newly posted version of the song shortly, indicating they may have knowledge of who posted it.
Another option is Ghostwriter977, a musician of sorts who may just be yearning for recognition through crafting “AI tracks” akin to those of the most popular artists around. In a Tik Tok video, a text was shown from a person claiming to be an attorney offering a record label deal.
The last option is a bit lackluster, but still plausible. People connected to the crypto and AI industries may be behind the “viral hit” with the aim of promoting Laylo, a promotional service which alerts the artist’s fans when they release new music. It may be a small service, but this explanation would fit the circumstance better than a big label trying to hype up the link, or an independent artist trying to make it big.
Regardless of the source behind this, platforms have a responsibility to protect artists from using their services for unethical or harmful reasons. Thankfully, various platforms have begun to engage on this issue, and many understand that they need to be part of the solution.
