Do you like scary movies? Following the release of “Scream 3” in 2000, fans were shocked to see Ghostface’s new weapon, a voice modulator that mimics the voice of others to deceive and frame his victims. While the film’s writers sought to inject freshness into the beloved franchise, this plot device faced severe criticism from fans for its unrealistic and far-fetched nature. However, 2023 has seen the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI). When AI technology can generate visuals from one’s memory and voice mimicry practices have become the new trick for entertainment, truth has now become stranger than fiction itself.
In today’s world, everyone has unprecedented access to various voice mimicry techniques, opening a Pandora’s box of legal and ethical debates, particularly within the music industry. This year, TikTok users have seen an influx of content featuring AI-generated covers of popular songs using the voices of different artists. The true nature of Ghostface’s weapon may have been misconstrued for being ahead of its time because the widespread use of voice mimicry now presents substantial risks.
At large, the crux of the issue is the fans themselves. After all, they are the ones engaging in the practice of voice mimicry. The public must refrain from employing AI technology to generate these covers as they cause severe problems for artists in the music industry and exacerbate the existing divide between fans and their beloved artists.
The emergence of AI covers, however, exposes the core problem that has triggered this ripple effect. As renowned mainstream artists like Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Frank Ocean, Childish Gambino, Justin Bieber and more are spending less time in recording studios and taking time for themselves, fans have never felt more disconnected and alone. The solitary lifestyles prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic likely played a significant role in this shift.
With less new music on the horizon, it is not far-fetched to attribute voice mimicry to fans simply taking matters into their own hands, yearning for the return of their favorite artists and their music.
With the music industry plagued by stagnancy and a dearth of new releases, some peculiar choices regarding the remixes of existing songs have been met with skepticism from fans. Because music consumers have experienced a profound sense of deprivation, remixes like The Weeknd’s “Die for You (Remix)” with Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift’s “Karma” with Ice Spice are dubbed as perplexing and unnecessary by fans. Despite the potential for these remixes to achieve positive reception, they collectively fail to address the fundamental issue at hand: the industry’s need for fresh and original music.
There are two forms of voice mimicry in this age of TikTok. The first entails the circulation of AI covers potentially becoming the new norm for music. Fans have been utilizing official tracks and employing AI technology to convert them into realistic covers performed by other late, retired and current mainstream artists. It’s hard to avoid these videos on any TikTok algorithm, often presented as a swipe-friendly photo album featuring an image of the covering artist of choice alongside the song’s lyrics.
In certain instances, creators have taken it a step further by pitting artists against each other, sharing a photo of the original artist alongside the covering artist, and allowing commenters to debate “who did it better” as the music alternates between both versions.
In another unique scenario, a double conundrum unfolds when users employ AI technology to generate original music, which is then further compounded with the voice of a well-known artist to cover these songs. Here, AI-generated covers take a perilous turn as fans can now exploit the reputation of other artists to gain exposure for their original music, completely detached from the artists themselves.
AI covers do have limitations. Fans often critique AI covers featuring recognizable singers like Ariana Grande, noting the striking resemblance to the original source material. An artist’s original music will always exist as a prerequisite for this particular type of music. This popular sentiment critiques the capacity of AI technology, hinting at a future where the originality of pop artists is at stake. Altogether, this practice poses dangers for both parties involved –– the original artist, whose music is largely discredited, and the other artist featured as the leading voice in these AI covers.
Within a few weeks, pop artist Ariana Grande has become one of the internet’s biggest victims, with her distinguishable vocal talents becoming a popular target for many AI-generated TikTok covers, along with scrapped content like leaked tracks and a music video surfacing online. Despite her quieter lifestyle after marriage and securing a role in “Wicked: Part One,” Grande has made subtle remarks about her displeasure towards the leaks but has not publicly addressed the issue of AI covers.
On the contrary, the Canadian singer Grimes has fully acknowledged AI covers in the public eye, taking her support of this controversial topic to Twitter by tweeting, “[w]e don’t have time to sign [people] and I don’t wanna own [people’s] music but we think we can devise smart contracts that [would] automatically upload [people’s] stuff and pay them – still checking on what’s possible but i think we’re close to just providing this as a public service.”
While Grimes’ sentiments shed light on the possibility of bridging a gap between fans and artists in this practice, it’s simply not a one-size-fits-all solution. History has already seen notorious artists like Taylor Swift struggling to gain the rights to their own music, and inviting anyone with access to AI technology as a third party would be overwhelmingly difficult to manage.
On a personal and professional level, artists should not have to publicly announce the copyright over their own voice. It’s essential to respect the autonomy of artists as some prefer to not be so vocal with the press. Furthermore, blurring the lines of copyright protection could create disastrous tensions between music artists, and their fates may end up mirroring the narrative arc of Miley Cyrus’ character in “Black Mirror” as “Ashley O,” an exploited pop artist whose voice and stage presence are replicated with generative technology.
If the deprivation of consumers is the leading cause of this situation, further utilization of AI-generated music would only exacerbate the pre-existing issue. Before you know it, we could enter a bleak age for music lovers. If AI-generated music becomes the predominant “creative” force in the music industry, live performances could be heavily devalued. Artists, who are unlikely to endorse songs they have no personal attachment to, may be reluctant to perform them.
Consequently, a series of unethical practices with AI technology for short-lived entertainment could usher in a decade marked by scarce concert tours, fewer vinyl releases and a decline in the very hallmarks that draw people to music in the first place.
Raymond Dinh is an Entertainment Staff Writer. He can be reached at raymontd@uci.edu.
