The boss of the company behind the Grammys has clarified the ceremony’s stance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry.
Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason Junior said: “AI, or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period”.
It follows new guidelines, which said that AI-only work was banned, and that “only human creators are eligible” for a Grammy, the world’s most recognised music award.
The new rules also stated: “A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category.”
The addition to the rulebook – which the Recording Academy said was made in a bid to better reflect the evolving music industry – sparked a multitude of headlines.
Music creators must also contribute to at least 20% of an album to earn a nomination. Previously, any producer, songwriter, engineer or featured artist on an album could earn a nomination for album of the year, even if the person only had a small input.
Mr Mason Jr said the Grammys, much like the music and performance industry as a whole, was still coming to terms with the new technology.
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Further clarifying the Recording Academy’s stance, he said: “What’s not going to happen is we are not going to give a Grammy or Grammy nomination to the AI portion [of a song].”
An example of this in practice would be a track featuring an AI or voice modelling program performing the lead vocal – while it would be eligible in a song writing category, it would not be eligible in a performance category.
If a song was sung by a human in a studio, but the lyrics or track was written by AI, the song would not be eligible in a composition or a songwriting category.
Mr Mason Jr went on: “As long as the human is contributing in a more than de minimis amount, which to us means a meaningful way, they are and will always be considered for a nomination or a win.
“We don’t want to see technology replace human creativity. We want to make sure technology is enhancing, embellishing, or additive to human creativity. So that’s why we took this particular stand in this award cycle.”
Image: John Lennon’s voice was recreated for ‘the last Beatles record’ using AI
Recent use of AI technology by high-profile artists include David Guetta’s Emin-AI-em and Grimes’s generative audio tool which allows anyone to clone her voice.
Mr Mason Jr says the Recording Academy have undertaken extensive research, including holding tech summits, and that AI conversations “really came to a head in the last six months.”
Mr Mason Jr said that while he didn’t know the full breakdown of the song’s production, that from “early descriptions” of the track’s creation, it “would be absolutely eligible [for a Grammy]”.
He also said that while he can’t predict the future, it would be possible that we could see songs at least partially created with AI nominated for a Grammy next year.
He said: “People are using the technology. I’m imagining it’s going to be involved in a lot of records a lot of songs this year, so we’ll see if some of them get nominated or not, but I’m sure there’ll be some that will be submitted.”
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Much has changed since the first Grammy Awards ceremony took place in 1959, with a recent influx of AI-generated songs, appearing to feature the voices of some of music’s biggest stars.
Meanwhile, the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes going on in the US both include negotiation over the use of generative AI, calling for more safeguards to ensure that it will not be used to replace them in their roles.
The 2024 Grammy Awards take place in Los Angeles on Sunday 4 February.
TV presenter Holly Willoughby has been fined in court after she admitted driving without due care and attention when her car collided with a moped, injuring the rider.
The star, 44, pleaded guilty by post to the charge at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday but did not attend the hearing.
Willoughby was fined £1,653 alongside £130 in costs and a £661 victim surcharge and given six points on her licence, the Metropolitan Police said.
According to court documents, the incident happened on 28 August as she was driving her Mini Cooper near her home in Richmond, southwest London.
Police were called to Church Road, Barnes, following reports of a collision.
The rider of the moped, a 43-year-old man, was taken to hospital. His injuries were assessed as neither life-threatening nor life-changing.
Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.
“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.
The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.
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It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.
President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.
Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.
Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.
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Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.
In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.
Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.
Dame Joanna Lumley has warned of a “crisis hidden in plain sight”, with 1.5 million older people set to spend Christmas alone.
Age UK spoke to more than 2,600 people and found 11% will eat dinner alone on 25 December, while 5% will not see or speak to anyone the whole day.
Applied to the overall population, the findings suggest 1.5 million people will eat alone at Christmas, according to the charity.
Dame Joanna said the “silence can be deafening” for those left isolated and called it “a crisis hidden in plain sight”.
The actor and campaigner is now joining other luminaries including Dame Judi Dench, Brian Cox and Miriam Margolyes to back Age UK’s campaign against loneliness.
The charity says its volunteers made more than 70,000 minutes’ worth of calls to people during Christmas week last year and is urging people to donate.
‘A tragedy we don’t talk about enough’
Age UK said it also supports coffee mornings and festive lunches to give lonely people the chance to enjoy in-person interaction.
Dame Judi said: “For so many older people, Christmas can be a time of silence – days without conversation or company.”
Succession star Brian Cox called the issue “a tragedy we don’t talk about enough”.
He said: “Far too many older people are left spending the season in silence, when it should be a time of warmth, connection and joy.”
Image: Brian Cox is another of the campaign’s high-profile backers. Pic: PA
Margolyes, of Harry Potter fame, added: “Growing older shouldn’t mean disappearing into the background, we need to be seen, heard and celebrated.
“That’s what Age UK is striving for – they’re changing how we perceive age.”
The charity’s chief executive, Paul Farmer, said: “Your donation could bring comfort, friendship, and care to an older person facing loneliness this winter.
“From friendly, weekly calls to local lunch clubs, we’re here to make sure no one spends winter alone. But we can’t do it without you.”