Earlier than changing into the CEO of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr. wrote songs for Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. Even with this sturdy inventive background, Mason Jr. is a believer that A.I. will complement, not compete, with musicians.
“I believe if we get the precise information rails in place, A.I. is usually a inventive amplifier, not a substitute for creativity,” Mason Jr. mentioned Wednesday at Fortune Brainstorm Tech in a dialog with convention co-chair Terri Burns. “That’s what know-how has been all through historical past since someone invented a drum or a wooden stick to some holes in it; the flute.”
Because the Recording Academy’s chief government at this crucial second in know-how, Mason Jr.’s embrace of A.I. could alter the course of musical historical past.
Mason Jr. acknowledges each the “terrifying” and “nice” nature of A.I. He cited “Coronary heart On My Sleeve,” a track that includes A.I. variations of rapper Drake and the Weeknd—and which garnered hundreds of thousands of performs earlier than Common Music Group eliminated the track citing infringement—because the shining instance. “Customers need music by their favourite artists, they wish to hear their favourite singers or rappers performing songs. So the potential for A.I. contributing to that’s each fascinating and somewhat bit scary,” he mentioned.
Nonetheless, he mentioned that creators usually are not “embracing” A.I., and chalks that as much as concern. “It’s scary if you hear your voice being replicated, with out an settlement, and even attribution or remuneration, coming again to you as an artist, or as a singer, as a author.”
This concern got here to a head with the discharge, and supreme takedown, of “Coronary heart On My Sleeve.” And whereas most artists appeared against digital duplication because the track made headlines, singer Grimes embraced the potential for her A.I. clone—as long as she receives 50% royalties. “Similar deal as I might with any artist i collab with. Be at liberty to make use of my voice with out penalty. I’ve no label and no authorized bindings,” she Tweeted in April.
As an artist and government Mason Jr. appears to have performed all of it. He served as musical producer on Pitch Good 2, Get on Up and Straight Outta Compton. He’s written and produced prolific songs like Jennifer Huson’s “And I Am Telling You” and Whitney Houston’s “I Look To You.” In Could of 2021 he turned the chief government officer of The Recording Academy, which hosts the Grammy Awards and serves because the music business’s casual governing physique.
He famous that digital work, together with A.I., has by no means been excluded from the Grammy Awards. And he mentioned he hoped that extra creators will experiment with A.I. and redefine human possession of digital work. “We as an academy wish to award human creativity,” he mentioned. “I can’t even perceive how we’d award a Grammy to a pc.”
