Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. has set out where the Grammys draw the line on AI. Songs made with AI help can be entered, but no award will go to an AI artist for a vocal performance, and voice cloning is ruled out entirely. He spoke with Luminate CEO Rob Jonas on January 29 at the Peppermint Club in West Hollywood during Grammy Week.
Mason gave examples. "Heart On My Sleeve," the viral 2023 track with vocals imitating Drake and The Weeknd, could have qualified for a songwriting award because a person wrote it, if rights problems had not stood in the way. A human singer over AI-generated backing could also compete in performance categories. On cloning someone's voice or likeness without permission he was blunt, saying it was not even debatable. He expects the NO FAKES Act, which the Academy supports, to pass in the current Congress.
He opened by saying the Academy believes in human creativity, but that AI has a place as a tool. He compared the moment to painters' alarm when the camera arrived: disruptive, but not ruinous, and the latest of many technical shifts that widened what music could do. He said he is excited about the human creativity that will use AI in unexpected ways, producing sounds nobody has imagined and letting artists work faster. He said every studio and session he has been in lately used AI in some form, and he suspects not every Grammy entrant discloses it. His advice to creators was to learn the technology and use it if they want, but to rely on authenticity and a voice of their own, which software cannot supply.
Mason recalled his jazz-musician father dismissing hip-hop DJs as just playing records, to show that ideas of real musicianship change. He still predicted a lasting gap between casual AI-assisted output and the work of trained artists who understand the craft and the culture. The talk also covered how Luminate's data helps the Academy follow emerging scenes around the world. The ceremony was held on February 1 in Los Angeles. Kendrick Lamar won five awards, including record of the year for "Luther", and Bad Bunny won album of the year.
Sources · 1