The Recording Academy Sets The Record Straight On Grammy Nominations And AI-Generated Songs

The Recording Academy (the parent company responsible for the Grammy Awards) has announced how it will handle recent technological developments in the music industry, specifically artificial intelligence (AI).

To clarify how this latest change will affect winners of future Grammy Awards, Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason Jr. spoke to The Associated Press.

After releasing a notification that “only human creators” would be given the music industry’s highest honor, the Recording Academy stated, “A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category.”

“Here’s the super easy headline statement: AI or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period,” Mason told the Associated Press. “What’s not going to happen is we are not going to give a Grammy or Grammy nomination to the AI portion.”

A song can utilize the technology and win in a songwriting category, but it won’t be eligible in a performance category.

“Conversely, if a song was sung by an actual human in the studio, and they did all the performing, but AI wrote the lyric or the track, the song would not be eligible in a composition or a songwriting category,” Mason added.

The Recording Academy has been involved in extensive research to ensure it is well-versed in artificial intelligence since it’s been the talk of the industry recently. Many music, television, and film artists have been speaking against AI, believing it breaches people’s intellectual property.

Mason said the academy has had discussions with the right entities to make proper decisions.

“I’ve met with the copyright office. We’ve talked about the future and what that looks like on a federal level and the legislative level,” Mason said. He also remarked that the conversations surrounding artificial intelligence “really came to a head in the last six months.”

He said he anticipates songs incorporating the technology. There is a possibility that some songs that use AI will vie for a Grammy nomination.