Last week, we reported on Drake and The Weeknd beefing with nerds for using their voices to generate music.

This week, Claire Boucher, the artist more popularly known as Grimes, encouraged every script kiddie and maker with GarageBand to, “use my voice without penalty,” in AI-generated music.

She’ll Pay a 50% Royalty

While Universal Music Group pushes streaming services to pull Heart On My Sleeve from their servers, Grimes is encouraging the user of her voice. She’s giving creators the same deal she gives established artists and will pay 50% royalty on any successful song.

I'll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings. pic.twitter.com/KIY60B5uqt

— 𝔊𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 (@Grimezsz) April 24, 2023

Copyright Not Ready for AI

The controversy arises from the fact voice imprints aren’t copyrightable. Melodies, scores, and lyrics are copyrightable and Universal was able to push for Heart On My Sleeve’s removal because it contains an uncleared sample of Metro Boomin’s music.

The copyright has made a determination on AI generated works, however. The agency ruled AI-generated art and music isn’t copyrightable because it is not a product of human authorship.

Killing Copyright

There will always be radicals. Grimes is pushing the idea of, “open sourcing all art and killing copyright.” I’m against this idea because my work and paycheck benefits from intellectual property. She’s willing to be the AI community’s guinea pig. She wants to offer a cappella samples of her voice so creators can have better data to generate music featuring her voice.

Well, it’s nice when you’ve birthed the spawn of a billionaires baby and don’t have to worry about your IP.

-MJ