April 19, 2023

Was my favourite The Weeknd track…

So, by now you’ve probably heard the “Drake” X “The Weeknd” AI-generated track ‘Heart On My Sleeve’ created by an unknown person who goes by Ghost Writer. It dropped last weekend and quickly went viral racking up 600,000 streams on Spotify with the TikTok videos having been watched over 15 million times.

Now the real Drake and The Weeknd’s record label, Universal Music Group (UMG), has slammed the use of AI in music for creating “infringing content.” And just like that, the track was yanked from streaming services, leaving fans heartbroken and AI haters smirking.

Apparently, UMG didn’t confirm whether they sent formal takedown notices, but they did release a statement to Billboard about the use of generative AI models. The label spokesman said, “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,” a label spokesman said. “We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues – as they recognise they need to be part of the solution.”

We’re yet to hear from Drake and The Weeknd or their reps, or their lawyers, or anyone. Maybe they were pranking us all and they really put out the track… who knows. If I could find it anywhere, I’d probably insert the track below… Oh wait: