Canadian pop and electronic musician Grimes has teamed up with CreateSafe studio to launch Elf.Tech, a software that uses artificial intelligence to replicate her voice.
On April 24, the musician reacted to a track by Drake and The Weeknd which had been created by AI. “I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice. Same deal as I would with any artist i collab with. Feel free to use my voice without penalty. I have no label and no legal bindings.” Shortly thereafter, Grimes said she and her team were working on developing Elf.Tech.
With the Elf.Tech software, which is currently in beta mode, users have the ability to upload audio files or record their voice directly in the app. They will then receive a file containing the same audio, but with the pop star’s vocals instead of their own.
Grimes may be credited as the primary or secondary artist of any music produced using the software, in exchange for 50% of the royalties on the main recording. Elf.Tech offers distribution through its platform, but artists can also distribute their music themselves or even release it through a label.
“Grimes is now open source and self replicating,” the artist tweeted. The Elf.Tech app also provides a folder of downloadable files, including Grimes’ vocals from tracks like 4ÆM, Oblivion, and IDORU, which creators can use to train their own artificial intelligence models.
This approach is reminiscent of the MusicLM artificial intelligence, created by Google. These first steps towards the creation of music by artificial intelligence show that the music industry may be about to enter a new era.
Are we heading towards a future where artists are replaced by AI? It isn’t something we can be certain about. In this particular case, we are looking at artificial intelligence that has been trained a single voice, on which legal rights have been applied. Consequently, Grimes offers a solution to the music law problems raised by AI. In any case, it seems important to find a balance between the protection of artists and the experimentation of new creative technologies.
