AI-Made Music on Spotify Should Be Banned, According to 54.13%

The recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are shocking the world. Big companies from all around the world are investing in this technology and are working to adapt it to various industries.

One interesting use of AI is making music. A track called “Heart on My Sleeve” used AI versions of Drake and the Weeknd’s voices and went viral on social media. The two artists weren’t aware of the AI song and didn’t consent to it.

Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, claimed that there were valued uses of technology in making music; however, AI should not be used to impersonate human artists without their consent. The track was then removed from Spotify and other streaming platforms.

So, are we accepting AI in many industries but not music? Apparently so. In May, thousands of tracks were removed from Spotify after realizing that the songs were created by artificial bots. However, Ek claimed that he would not be banning AI-made music on Spotify.

Spotify’s CEO mentioned in an interview that using AI tools to improve music was acceptable, but tools that mimic artists weren’t. To know what the public thinks about AI-made music, Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey on AI-made music on Spotify.

Highlights:

• AI-made music on Spotify should be banned, according to 54.13%.
• 49.55% believe AI should not be used to impersonate artists without their consent.
• AI poses a threat to the profession of musicians, according to 46.88%

Spotify Will Not Ban AI-made Music

Spotify has decided not to ban AI-made music, according to the music’s platform CEO, Daniel Ek. The majority were aware of his declaration, as 42.86% were fully aware, 36.58% were vaguely aware, and 20.56% weren’t familiar with the decision. While the numbers were close to siding with Spotify’s decision not to completely ban AI-made music on its platform, the majority disagreed with the music platform. 54.13% disagreed with Spotify’s decision, and 45.87% agreed. However, when breaking down the figures, 39.02% agreed with the decision, 32.81% disagreed, 21.32% strongly disagreed, and 6.85% strongly agreed.

Is AI-Made Music Acceptable?

Ek told the BBC that those uses of technology in making music were valid; however, AI should not be used to impersonate human artists without their consent. This seemed to be the majority of the public’s opinion, as 49.55% agreed, 28.82% weren’t sure, and 21.63% claimed that they didn’t agree.

In an interview, Ek said he saw three uses of AI, one was acceptable, one wasn’t, and the third was a middle ground. He believes that tools such as auto-tune which improve music, are acceptable; tools that mimic artists aren’t; and music that’s created by AI that was influenced by existing artists but didn’t directly impersonate them is in the middle.

The majority agreed with Ek’s opinion and claimed AI tools for auto-tune are acceptable, while tools that mimic artists are not. In detail, 53.15% agreed, 25.72% strongly agreed, 17.04% disagreed, and 4.09% strongly disagreed.

AI Can Make Music, Not Art

The Irish musician Hozier said the technology doesn’t “meet the definition of art,” and he considered striking over the threat of AI to his profession. AI poses a threat to the profession of musicians, according to 46.88%. 28.96% didn’t state an opinion, and 24.16% thought the opposite.

Categorizing AI-generated music separately from human artists on Spotify seemed to be the minority’s choice. Around 57.3% are against separation between the two, and 42.7% are in favor. To break it down, 36.04% are somewhat against separation, while on the other hand, 31.22% are somewhat in favor of it. Moreover, 21.26% showed strong opposition, and 11.48% were strongly in favor.

While people are becoming more open to using AI, 51.8% said they won’t likely listen to AI-generated music on Spotify. 39.17% said they could explore and listen to it, 32.02% said they probably won’t listen to AI-generated music, 19.78% stated that it was very unlikely, and only 9.03% said it was very likely.