Ghostwriter, the guy behind the viral Drake/Weeknd song, thinks AI music is like fanfiction

In April, musical artist Ghostwriter posted the song "Heart on My Sleeve," which used AI voice filters to imitate the voices of Drake and The Weeknd with such accuracy that some listeners thought it was a new collaboration between the chart-topping Canadians.

The song became one of the biggest music stories of the year and also caused a fair amount of uproar over the ethics of the project. The song was made without Drake or The Weeknd's consent — and Ghostwriter's second single, "Whiplash," features the voices of 21 Savage and Travis Scott, without their permission either.

In a first-ever interview with Billboard, Ghostwriter compares his work to fanfiction. "[It's] a fan-generated genre of music," he told Billboard. "Some might feel this creates competition or steals attention away from an artist’s own music, but I would disagree."

Instead, he thinks AI-generated music has the power to help both artists and songwriters make more money. In "Heart on My Sleeve," the only element generated with the help of AI is the manipulated vocals. "It is definitely my songwriting, my production and my voice," said Ghostwriter, who refused to reveal his identity to Billboard. "Maybe it sounds cheesy, but this is a lot bigger than me and Ghostwriter. It’s the future of music."

Here are our top takeaways from the interview. 

On streaming royalties and artist consent

Ghostwriter and his manager defend their unauthorized use of other artists' voices by describing their experimentation as the crude first step towards an AI-powered future. "Everything starts somewhere, like Spotify wouldn’t exist without Napster," Ghostwriter's manager told Billboard. "Nothing is perfect in the beginning. That’s just the reality of things. Hopefully, people will see all the value that lies here."

They said Drake, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, and 21 Savage are essentially taking one for the team so that all artists can begin to license their vocal likenesses in the future. "Imagine singing a karaoke song in the artist’s voice," says the manager, or getting "a personalized birthday message from your favorite artist." They envision that songs generated with the help of AI will be labeled as such, and even live in a separate tab on streaming services like Spotify.

On the Grammy eligibility of "Heart on My Sleeve"

The manager revealed to Billboard that Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. reached out over DM to learn more about Ghostwriter's approach to AI. "He put together an industry roundtable with some of the brightest minds — including people in the Copyright Office, legal departments at labels, Spotify, Ghostwriter," said the manager. "We had an open conversation." A version of "Heart on My Sleeve," one without AI voice filters, is Grammy-eligible.

On giving songwriters their due

As a songwriter himself, Ghostwriter knows how little they're paid. His use of AI sprang from his hope to create a new revenue stream for songwriters. He sees AI as a tool for helping artists understand what a songwriter's track would sound like in their own voice before pursuing it for a project. He also thinks songwriters could use AI-generated voices of well-known musicians to get a larger cut of streaming revenue from those songs, too.

Ghostwriter says that the success of "Heart on My Sleeve" proves how important songwriting is in the creation of music. "There are so many talented songwriters that are able to chameleon themselves in the studio to fit the artist they are writing for... That skill is what I get to showcase with Ghostwriter," he says. "How many incredible songs are sitting on songwriters and producers’ desktops that will never be heard by the world?," he asked Billboard. "The Ghostwriter project…is about not throwing art in the trash."

"We’re in no way trying to diminish the hard work and deserving nature of the artists and the labels that support them," his manager added, "We’re just trying to shine a light on the value that songwriters bring and that their compensation currently doesn’t match that contribution."