An AI-generated “Drake” song raises alarm bells for labels like Universal Music

Nice for bot… ICYMI: an AI-generated song featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd went viral this week. “Heart on My Sleeve,” posted on TikTok by a bed-sheet-clad user called Ghostwriter977, racked up millions of streams across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms. The ghostwriter said they wrote and produced the verses for the AI-generated vocals. Then came the takedowns:

• Universal Music Group, the world’s largest label, which reps Drake and The Weeknd, had the song removed from platforms.

• Legal verse: Universal said “the training of generative AI using our artists’ music” violates copyright law and that “we will not hesitate to take steps to protect our rights and those of our artists.”

Fake Drake(s) aren’t the only problem… Universal was quick to act, but now another Drake fake (“Winter’s Cold”) has hit the internet. Labels like UMG, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music have been effective in aggressively protecting their music (think: YouTube videos and Insta stories being taken down or demonetized). Platforms like YouTube scan videos to see whether they contain copyrighted content, so identification is nearly instant. But AI tracks could be harder to spot. For consumers, it’s also tough to know if a track is authentic because Auto-Tune (used to synthetically improve tracks) is so prevalent.