Spotify and Apple have pulled down Drake and The Weeknd’s AI song

Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, has slowly taken over the internet, affecting music promotion, production, and overall industry. They are everywhere, and promoters of these AIs say there is almost nothing that they cannot do. They have slowly crept into the music industry, from writing letters to creating life images. Sadly, even though their present possibilities are enticing, they lack originality and violate laws.

Let’s look at why the removal of the song from the public domain was fitting.

Copyright violations were the reason for the takedown

The basis of all copyright laws is that they protect a person’s intellectual property. It does not give room for a second party to sing, produce, or sell anything that was not originally done by them. According to legalists, this song goes against the laws of copyright as it imitates Drake and Weekend’s song. It’s safe to say the song was an impersonation of them singing. Reports have it, however, that Drake is taking legal action against the song’s creator. This is one of the reasons why Drake and The Weekend’s song faced heavy backlash leading to its removal from Spotify and Apple Music.

Fans criticism

While the music garnered thousands of streams across different music apps, it was called fake. The UMG music group called out the song strongly, expressing their displeasure with the impersonation. As such, Spotify and Apple had to remove the songs from their streaming platforms. It is unsure what the real motives of Ghostwriter977 were for uploading the song. This is because he has not yet fully explained his reasons. He asserted that he taught the AI to sing using the two artists’ voices as test subjects. This leads to questions on everyone’s lips, who is this person?

Who is Ghostwriter977?

His real identity remains unknown, as his profile picture on TikTok gives little to no information about his identity. It is, however, undeniable that he has made his presence known. In one of his posts on TikTok, he said he had been ghostwriting for years and got nothing meaningful out of it. Now he wants to make his mark. The anonymous uploader was soon seen dancing to the song in a video he posted on TikTok.

This has led a lot of music enthusiasts and artists to call for stringent laws protecting artists’ rights. They asserted that if no laws are in place to limit the extent to which AIs are allowed to go very soon, there will be no stopping them. It would become difficult to tell the fake from the original. As a result, people would no longer get compensation for producing original work.

Finally, while the song is facing heavy backlash and criticism, some believe it did not violate any law. This is because the song’s lyrics do not copy any songs that the two artists have released, except for the similar voices. As such, it is arguable that the rights of copyright do not extend to voice.

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