AI-generated Drake and Weeknd song goes viral as music bosses warn of ‘calamity’

The Weeknd and Drake seemingly exchange lyrics about the pop star and actress Selena Gomez in Heart On My Sleeve. Photos / Getty

It sounds like a collaboration between two of the biggest names in music. But the latest song to take Spotify and social media by storm has been generated by artificial intelligence, using machine learning software to clone the artists’ voices, in a development that has sparked alarm in the music industry.

Heart on My Sleeve, featuring what appear to be the voices of the platinum-selling artists Drake and The Weeknd, has garnered more than 20 million views and listens across TikTok, Twitter and Spotify.

It is not the first song to experiment with the technology. There exists a version of Adele’s Easy on Me purporting to be sung by Kanye West, while Rihanna’s voice has been cloned on a cover version of a song by Beyonce.

However, Heart on My Sleeve is the most successful so far and with a sound closest to the real thing.

In the latest example of AI’s ability to mimic real life, Drake and The Weeknd seemingly exchange lyrics about the pop star and actress Selena Gomez, who the former previously dated.

“Got these pearls on my neck, got these girls on my check, like Selena, baby I’ma cheat, oh maybe,” the song goes.

The track’s anonymous creator, calling themselves “Ghostwriter”, wrote under its YouTube upload: “This is just the beginning.”

Its release follows attempts by Universal Music Group (UMG), whose roster includes both Drake and The Weeknd, to persuade streaming platforms to clamp down on AI-generated music.

Nick Stewart, a music industry veteran who signed U2 to Island Records, is chief executive of TCAT, a technology company that deals with music piracy.

“AI is clearly one of the most serious threats to hit the music business in terms of piracy for a very long time.

“We are standing on the precipice of an AI evolution around music piracy. Protecting the rights of our clients is the core value at the heart of all our products,” Stewart said.

Mark Mulligan, a media analyst and founder of Midia Research, said the AI revolution had prompted “a lot of terror” among the big record labels.

“This is like an electric guitar moment for Gen Z. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, teenagers picked up guitars and anybody could make music. It was democratised.

“Generative AI could be that thing but at a much bigger scale, because in the old days even a half-decent band were playing tiny little working men’s clubs. Now, everybody can get [their content] straight on to Spotify,” Mulligan said.

Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vice president and chief digital officer, wrote on the website Music Business Worldwide that the rise of AI could be a “calamity” for the industry.

AI can dilute the market, he said, “making original creations harder to find and violating artists’ legal rights to compensation from their work”.

“These developments have led to profound concerns in our industry, with similarities being drawn between AI’s rise and the rise of Napster and unlicensed music-sharing over 20 years ago.

“At that time, it was copyright law that saved the day, ensuring that artists and labels were protected,” Nash said.

“In all of AI’s various utilisations, promoting artists’ interests is paramount. Central to that overriding philosophy is our belief that unless creators are respected and fairly compensated when their works are exploited to train AI, the world’s creators will suffer widespread and lasting harm.”

Rolling Stone magazine said that AI was “shaping up to be the largest disruptor to the music industry since digital downloads”.

A government consultation on artificial intelligence noted that “there is uncertainty about how copyright law applies” in such cases.

“Ghostwriter” appeared on TikTok hidden beneath a white sheet. They claimed: “I was a ghostwriter for years and got paid close to nothing for major labels to profit. The future is here.”

Drake called out a fan-made video in which he appeared to be rapping another artist's song. Photo / Getty

Neither Drake nor The Weeknd have acknowledged the track’s existence. They have collaborated in real life, prompting speculation that Heart on My Sleeve could even be a publicity stunt. The former, however, recently tackled the issue in a separate post on Instagram after discovering a fan-made video in which he appeared to be rapping to Ice Spice’s Munch (Feelin’ U).

“This is the final straw AI,” Drake wrote. Music is the latest art form to be hit by a new craze of AI-generated content described as “deep fakes”.

A European Commission official said that policing of digital recreations of celebrated recording artists was “complex and requires constant monitoring”.

Several websites offer services that allow fans to create new songs using the voices of music’s biggest stars.

- Telegraph Media Group