Art vs. AI: Music published under Nova Scotia musician’s name

First at five we look into how artificial intelligence is blurring the lines between creativity and control.

There’s a new album out by Ian Janes, only it’s not Nova Scotia musician Ian Janes.

In fact, it may not be a real artist who released the music.

“I’ve searched the internet, scoured the internet, to see if there’s just another Ian Janes releasing music … but nothing. I can’t find anything, and the music came out. There’s no voice,” said Janes.

While he was getting ready for a gig last weekend, Janes received an email from Spotify for Artists suggesting he promote his new song -- except he didn’t have a new song.

After some searching, he realized the music and the cover art all appeared to be made with artificial intelligence (AI).

“They have used a lot of popular current and past song titles, but when I went on and listened to them, they’re not even instrumental versions of those songs. They sound nothing like it.”

Janes said he was able to get in touch with Spotify, which removed the album from his profile. However, the music is still available to stream on the platform.

As AI grows, digital anthropologist Giles Crouch said this will likely happen to more artists.

“The internet is still the Wild West. We think with streaming channels and platforms it’s sort of locked down, but it’s not, so it’s a Wild West,” said Crouch.

“Cyber crime is going to get much worse over the coming years.”

Crouch said even if laws do come into effect, it will be challenging to enforce.

“The laws in the real world have struggled to translate to the digital world, and until we do that, things like this are going to happen at an increasing level,” said Crouch.

This scenario is bringing up more questions for Janes.

“If a name isn’t proprietary, and titles aren’t proprietary, what’s going to keep an AI music company from using the name of existing musicians and using the names of the songs they’ve released?”

As for what listeners can do for their favourite musicians.

“The easiest way to fight this is to find artists you like, go to their shows, buy a T-shirt, buy a physical piece of music if you still listen that way, and just be a little more discerning about what you’re checking out online,” said Janes.

He said he found out through a friend what distributor uploaded the music, and he has reached out to them to see if he can get it taken down.

CTV News reached out to Apple Music and Spotify for comment on the use of AI generated music on their platforms and what protections are in place for artists, but did not receive a response.

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