Spotify Publishes AI-Generated Songs From Dead Artists Without Permission

[u/ebradio]

https://www.404media.co/spotify-publishes-ai-generated-songs-from-dead-artists-without-permission/

[u/milkymaniac]

If all dead artists' estates are as greedy and capricious as the famously litigious ones, this could be a fun class action lawsuit. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more than Daniel Ek.

[u/CobrasMama → u/milkymaniac]

According to his official Spotify page, Blaze Foley, a country music singer-songwriter who was murdered in 1989, released a new song called “Together” last week. The song, which features a male country singer, piano, and an electric guitar, vaguely sounds like a new, slow country song. The Spotify page for the song also features an image of an AI-generated image of a man who looks nothing like Foley singing into a microphone.

Craig McDonald, the owner of Lost Art Records, the label that distributes all of Foley’s music and manages his Spotify page, told me that any Foley fan would instantly realize “Together” is not one of his songs.

“I can clearly tell you that this song is not Blaze, not anywhere near Blaze’s style, at all,” he told me on a call. “It’s kind of an AI schlock bot, if you will. It has nothing to do with the Blaze you know, that whole posting has the authenticity of an algorithm.”

That is absolutely batshit.

Blaze Foley might be a name unfamiliar to a lot of people here, but he absolutely has a cult fanbase who would immediately question the legitimacy of the AI song.

I can't think of anyone who deserves it more than Daniel Ek.

100%

It's past time for this war pig to feel the heat, both legally and financially.

[u/funkysax → u/CobrasMama]

I’m looking for this song on Spotify to hear what sort of rubbish it is. Can’t find it. Im a huge Blaze Foley fan. He would absolutely hate that his name is tied to anything like this.

[u/Captain_Quark → u/funkysax]

It has since been taken down, thankfully. But it looks like it originated on Tiktok; you could check there.