Grimes has recently launched an AI tool that will allow artists to use her vocals on new tracks. She worked with the GenAI music platform TRINITI to introduce Elf.tech to the music world. The platform will allow artists to collaborate with Grimes without having to pay to get her in the studio.
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The caveat is that artists must pay Grimes 50% of their master recording royalties from any song which uses the technology, according to a report from Route Note. How does this new tech work? Apparently, the AI transforms existing vocal tracks into Grimes’ unique vocal pattern by using a “GrimesAI-1 voiceprint.” The process is allegedly simple, producing a WAV file with only one click. Then, that file can be used in other tracks.
Grimes announced the collaboration with TRINITI in April this year, claiming she was working on something that would allow artists to utilize her voice. “We’re making a program that should simulate my voice well but we could also upload stems and samples for ppl to train their own,” she wrote on Twitter at the time.
[RELATED: Grimes Gives Permission to Use Her Voice in AI Songs “Without Penalty”]
She laid out the terms on Twitter as well, letting interested artists know they would “split 50% royalties on any successful AI generated song that uses my voice.” Grimes continued, “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.”
Grimes Lays Out Rules for Using Her AI-Generated Vocals
Grimes also asked artists to register their songs on her website in addition to the royalties split. She also urged creators not to be “the worst” and use her voice for violent or discriminatory lyrics. “That’s the only rule,” she wrote on Twitter. “Rly don’t like to do a rule but don’t wanna be responsible for a Nazi anthem unless it’s somehow in jest a la producers I guess. – wud prefer avoiding political stuff but If it’s a small meme with ur friends we prob won’t penalize that. Probably just if smthn is viral and anti abortion or smthn like that.”
In 2020, Grimes spoke with The New York Times about AI in art. “I think A.I. is great,” she said at the time. “I just feel like, creatively, I think A.I. can replace humans. And so I think at some point, we will want to, as a species, have a discussion about how involved A.I. will be in art.”
Grimes has been open about her relationship with AI, even going so far as to release a new song this year blatantly titled “I Wanna Be Software.” According to Grimes, the song is “a new chapter from Book 1,” a frequently teased and long-awaited full-length project. After the release of her most recent album, Miss Anthropocene, Grimes left Columbia Records, and is creating her music independently.
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