Grammys: Only ‘human creators’ eligible to win, Recording Academy says response to AI

The Recording Academy is making several changes to the Grammy Awards, including a rule that stipulates “only human creators” can win the music industry’s highest honor in a decision aimed at the use of artificial intelligence in popular music. “A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” the organization said, under new “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Protocols” released June 16. The rule was set following the semiannual academy’s board of trustees meeting, where it was determined that work that features elements of AI is eligible, as long as a human creator is responsible for a “meaningful” contribution to the music and/or lyrics. “The human authorship component of the work submitted must be meaningful,” the new requirements read in part. The news arrived shortly after Paul McCartney announced that a forthcoming “last Beatles record” had been composed using artificial intelligence by extracting John Lennon’s voice from an old demo. At the time, he described AI as “kind of scary but exciting,” adding: “We will just have to see where that leads.” In addition to the AI rule, the Recording Academy announced that there have been swift changes made to other categories: now, to win a nomination for the Album of the Year category, a music creator has to account for at least 20% of the work. That includes all credited artists, featured artists, songwriters, producers, engineers, mixers and mastering engineers, and differs from a decision made in 2021, which allowed anyone who worked on the album to receive a nomination. The number of those eligible in the “Big Four” categories — best new artists as well as album, song, and record of the year — has been decreased from 10 to eight nominees. Previously, to be nominated for the “best music film” category, 50% of the documentary footage had to be performance-based. The Recording Academy has lifted that requirement. This article was provided by The Associated Press.