Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. issued a clarification on Thursday to a statement he made to The New York Times about whether a viral AI-generated song, made to sound like Drake and The Weeknd, was “absolutely eligible” for an award.
The Grammy Awards, Recording Academy chief initially was asked by the NYT if the song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which was created by an anonymous artist known as Ghostwriter, would be up for consideration in next year’s competition after the artist’s team said they had submitted the song in two categories for the 2024 awards, best rap song and song of the year, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mason told the NYT, “As far as the creative side, it’s absolutely eligible because it was written by a human.”
A backlash ensued against him and the CEO went on social media to clarify earlier comments.
Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. tells the New York Times that unauthorized AI Drake & The Weekend collaboration "Heart on My Sleeve" would be eligible for a GRAMMY nomination:
"As far as the creative side, it's absolutely eligible because it was written by a human." pic.twitter.com/lLUcjlKwjN
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 7, 2023
“I’m sorry, but I have to clear up some of this bad and really inaccurate information that’s starting to float around,” Mason said in a video. “This version of ‘Heart on My Sleeve’ using the AI voice modeling, that sounds like Drake and The Weeknd, it’s not eligible for Grammy consideration.”
“Let me be extra, extra clear, even though it 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,” he added.
“I take this [AI] stuff very seriously,” Mason continued. “It’s all complicated, and it’s moving, really, really quickly. I’m sure things are going to continue to have to evolve and change. But please, please, do not be confused. The Academy is here to support and advocate and protect and represent human artists, and human creators period.”
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In July, Mason Jr. told Variety that the Recording Academy would not “be giving a nomination or an award to an AI computer or someone who just prompted AI.”
“That’s the distinction that we’re trying to make,” he added. “It’s the human award highlighting excellence, driven by human creativity.”
