The AI Drake track that mysteriously went viral over the weekend is the start of a problem that will upend Google in one way or another — and it’s really not clear which way it will go.
Here’s the basics: there’s a new track called “Heart on My Sleeve” by a TikTok user called @ghostwriter877 with AI-generated vocals that sound like Drake and The Weeknd. The song mysteriously blew up out of nowhere over the weekend, which, well, is fishy for various reasons.
After the song went viral on TikTok, a full version was released on music streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, and on YouTube. This prompted Drake and The Weeknd’s label Universal Music Group to issue a sternly-worded statement about the dangers of AI, which specifically says that using generative AI infringes its copyrights. Here’s that statement, from UMG senior vice president of communications James Murtagh-Hopkins:
UMG’s success has been, in part, due to embracing new technology and putting it to work for our artists–as we have been doing with our own innovation around AI for some time already. With that said, however, 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.
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.
What happened next is a bit mysterious. The track came down from streamers like Apple Music and Spotify which are in tight control of their libraries and can pull tracks for any reason, but it remained available on YouTube and TikTok, which are user-generated content platforms with established DMCA takedown processes. I am told by a single source familiar with the situation that UMG didn’t actually issue takedowns to the music streamers, and the streaming services so far haven’t said anything to the industry trade publications. Neither has Drake or The Weeknd. It’s weird – it does seem like Ghostwriter977 pulled the track themselves to create hype, especially while the song remained on YouTube and TikTok.
But then TikTok and YouTube also pulled the track. And YouTube, in particular, pulled it with a statement that it was removed due to a copyright notice from UMG. And this is where it gets fascinatingly weedsy and probably existentially difficult for Google: to issue a copyright takedown to YouTube, you need to have… a copyright on something. Since “Heart on my Sleeve” is an original song, UMG doesn’t own it — it’s not a copy of any song in the label’s catalog.