Drake & The Weeknd AI Song Pulled From Streaming Platforms

A song that copies the vocals of Drake and The Weeknd using AI has been taken off from streaming providers.

Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, and Tidal no longer have “Heart On My Sleeve” available for purchase. Additionally, it is being taken down from YouTube and TikTok, but some copies are still accessible.

It comes after harsh criticism from the song’s publishers, Universal Music Group, who claimed that the music broke copyright laws.

Platforms, according to the music publisher, have a “legal and ethical responsibility” to stop the usage of services that hurt artists.

The song mimics Drake and The Weeknd swapping rhymes about Selena Gomez, a pop star and actress who dated The Weeknd in the past.

Drake & The Weeknd AI Song Pulled From Streaming Platforms

The song was allegedly made by software tuned to the voices of the musicians, according to its composer, who goes by the handle @ghostwriter.

The single gained popularity throughout the weekend after being shared on several platforms on Friday. On Monday afternoon, it was first taken down from Apple, Deezer, and Tidal before requests to take it down from TikTok, Spotify, and YouTube were made.

The text “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Universal Music Group” has replaced the link to the song’s original YouTube video. Before being removed, it had received 629,439 streams on Spotify. That amounts to around £1,500 ($1,888) at Spotify’s lowest royalty rate of $0.003 per stream.

The publishers of both artists, Republic Records and Universal Music Group, claimed they have been experimenting with artificial intelligence on their own for some time.

“The training of generative AI using our artists’ music (which represents both a breach of our agreements and a violation of copyright law) as well as the availability of infringing content created with generative AI on DSPs, begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation,” UMG added.

“These instances demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists. We’re encouraged by the engagement of our platform partners on these issues as they recognize they need to be part of the solution.”

Did you happen to listen to Drake and The Weeknd’s AI song “Heart On My Sleeve?” If so, comment below!

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