AI-copied songs of The Weeknd and Drake are removed from Apple and Spotify

A song that copied the vocals of Canadian singer The Weeknd and rapper Drake with the help of “artificial intelligence” is being removed from streaming services.

The song “Heart on My Sleeve” is no longer available on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, or Deezer and is soon to be removed from YouTube and TikTok. But it may be possible that some remain left out. It comes in the wake of critical condemnation from the music’s publishers, Universal Music Group, who claimed that the song broke copyright laws.

A platform’s “legal and ethical responsibility” to stop the usage of services that hurt artists, according to the music publisher, is to prevent their exploitation.

The song’s composer, who goes by the handle “ghostwriter,” claims that it was made using software that was trained on the voices of the musicians.

Since the song was uploaded on various platforms, it gained popularity throughout the weekend. The original YouTube link of the song is now not working because of the copyright claim appealed by “Universal Music Group.”

Before it was removed from Spotify, it had been streamed 629,439 times.

Both musicians are published by Universal Music Group through Republic Records, which said it has been experimenting with AI for some time.

However, it went on to say that “the availability of unlawful material made with generative AI on DSPs, as well as the instruction of generative AI using our artists’ music, raises the question of which side of tradition those involved in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of creators, supporters, and human artistic expression, or on the side of sophisticated fakes, scams, and depriving artists of their just compensation.”

These incidents show why networks have a fundamental moral obligation to forbid the misuse of their services to hurt artists. Our platform partners’ involvement in these issues is encouraging because it shows that they understand they must contribute to the solution.

Drake recently expressed his annoyance at having his voice duplicated, although neither artist has yet commented on the music.