--- title: "Furious Record Label Gets AI-Generated Drake Song Deleted" description: "Major record label Universal Music Group has forced a song that uses the AI-generated vocals of Drake and The Weeknd to be taken offline." date: "2023-04-18" modified: "2023-04-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/record-label-ai-generated-drake-song-deleted" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai music" - "drake" - "the digest" --- # Furious Record Label Gets AI-Generated Drake Song Deleted ![Major record label Universal Music Group has forced a song that uses the AI-generated vocals of Drake and The Weeknd to be taken offline.]() *\Image: Amy Sussman/Getty Images\* ## Drake Equation Major record label Universal Music Group (UMG) has forced a song that uses the AI-generated vocals of Aubrey "Drake" Graham and Abel Makkonen "the Weeknd" Tesfaye to be taken offline, [*Billboard* reports](), calling it out as being "infringing content." The song, dubbed "Heart on My Sleeve," was originally uploaded to TikTok by user Ghostwriter977 and featured extremely uncanny imitations of the voices of both music artists. Before it was removed from streaming services, it racked up 600,000 streams on Spotify and 15 million views on TikTok, according to the report. But, as is the case for virtually anything uploaded to the internet, it's trivially easy to find alternative uploads. The incident highlights the growing concerns over the effects of AI-generated music in the entertainment industry — and at what, if the history of filesharing is any guide, could become an escalating battle to contain or monetize it. ## Music Madness UMG told *Billboard* in a statement that songs like this one "demonstrate why platforms have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists." It's not the first time UMG has acted against AI-generated music. Earlier this month, the label [issued a copyright takedown notice]() against a YouTuber, who created an AI-generated song about kittens using the voice of world-renowned rapper Marshall "Eminem" Mathers. UMG also requested that streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple last week block any AI services from making use of copyrighted material that belongs to the label, as the [*Financial Times* reported](). Plenty of unanswered questions remain: who holds the final right over somebody's voice? Can a unique voice be copyrighted in its entirety? Drake, for his part, is furious. "This is the final straw AI," he [wrote in an Instagram story](), following the viral success of a song by rapper Ice Spice, which was modified to feature a cloned version of his voice. **More on AI music:** *[Record Label Forces Takedown of AI-Generated Eminem Rapping About Kitty Cats]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()