Beatles' Grammy nod spotlights music industry's AI debates
NEW YORK, United States — Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and...The Beatles?
The Fab Four broke up more than half-a-century ago and only two members are living, but they are among the contenders for the Grammy celebrating the year's best record, a head-scratching nomination that highlights the Recording Academy's ongoing debate on how to handle artificial intelligence.
News that The Beatles would release the song "Now and Then" with an AI assist triggered excitement for some fans but outrage among others, as some jumped to the conclusion that deepfakes were involved.
That isn't the case: "Now and Then" was made using "stem separation," a type of AI technology that allowed for cleaning up the decades old, lo-fi demo plagued by excess noise.
They used it to isolate John Lennon's vocals from the unwanted bits of the recording, making it usable.
Creators then added electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by the late George Harrison, completing the song with drums from Ringo Starr and bass, piano and slide guitar from Paul McCartney, along with additional backing vocals.
And the Recording Academy behind the Grammys gala — set for Sunday in Los Angeles (Monday, Philippine time) — deemed it eligible to win Record of the Year, one of the night's top prizes, as well as Best Rock Performance.
Related: Beyonce, Charli XCX, Post Malone lead Grammys pack at gala backdropped by fires
'Elements of AI material' eligible
The institution has been grappling for years with AI's implications for the music industry, as many artists voice serious concern over the ethics of music generated by the technology.
The Academy released a ruling in 2023 that "only human creators are eligible" to be considered for Grammys. "A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any categories," read the detailed rules.
But, it adds, "a work that features elements of AI material (ie, material generated by the use of artificial intelligence technology) is eligible in applicable categories."
The takeaway: as it stands, work created with purely generative AI isn't eligible. Songs touched by AI tools that polish rather than create — like "Now and Then" — can be considered.
As McCartney has