(left to right) Andreea Gleeson, CEO of TuneCore, Grimes and Daouda Leonard, CEO of CreateSafe. Photo credit: Believe
In late April, Believe announced that the company was exploring multiple partnerships in the artificial intelligence space. Now the company’s TuneCore subsidiary has announced a collaboration with Grimes and CreateSafe, developer of the artist’s acclaimed Elf.tech platform.
The New York City-based distributor and Los Angeles-based company CreateSafe emailed Digital Music News today through their union and said talks had begun at IMS disaster.
Daouda Leonard serves as CEO of CreateSafe and also heads up Grimes, which in early May committed to split recorded royalties halfway for approved tracks featuring AI-generated imitations of her voice. Taking into account self-reported user statistics as well as the extensive range of Songs With Grimes AI’s vocals, many have obviously quickly benefited from the tool.
And now that the just-detailed agreement is in place — as the reach of artificial intelligence itself continues to expand — the logic suggests that the tool will become more prevalent. TuneCore artists who use Grimes AI’s voice in their own music can distribute the resulting works “across all major streaming platforms,” according to the parties involved.
Also eligible for TuneCore distribution (and half of the royalties) are works where Grimes AI is the “lead artist” — though the namesake must pre-approve any “collaborations,” supervisors stressed.
Following the 35-year-old’s approval, TuneCore will proceed to “review the content to ensure it meets DSP guidelines, validate accurate license allocations, and ultimately distribute the music,” the Believe-owned company announced.
TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson elaborated on the partnership in a statement, addressing several points of interest — including today’s rapidly expanding “pool of music creators” and the potential to power similar AI initiatives with disparate artists.
“The use of AI enables artists to increase their creativity, develop a deeper connection with their fans through co-creation and open up a new revenue stream,” shared TuneCore executive Gleeson, who is almost eight years old. “It also expands the pool of music creators by making it easier for people to create music.
“By working with Grimes and CreateSafe, TuneCore will be at the forefront of this space, offering artists the opportunity to engage with AI technology in an innovative, streamlined process that delivers tangible value and enables consent, control and revenue sharing at scale. “We are committed to exploring similar innovative initiatives on behalf of our artists in the future,” she concluded.
As for the latter, it’s safe to assume that in the months and years to come, more and more developers will be using AI voice platforms like Elf.tech – if only to counter a massive collection of unauthorized artificial intelligence sound-like songs . Meanwhile, non-infringing AI tracks continue to flock to streaming services.
While some remain optimistic about AI’s long-term impact on creativity, others (including Grimes) raise concerns about the technology’s perceived pitfalls and/or call for stricter regulation.
Specifically in the music space, Deezer is building an AI music identification system — with plans to eventually differentiate between AI and non-AI releases in the distribution of royalties. In addition, Universal Music is making a widely publicized push for streaming fee reform, Sony Music is criticizing the “low quality and meaningless volume” of music platforms, and Warner Music is developing “unprecedented” proprietary technology.