"Heart On My Sleeve," the infamous AI-made track featuring the voices of Drake and The Weeknd won't be eligible to contend at the Juno Awards.
According to The Globe and Mail, Allan Reid, the president and CEO of The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, implemented new rules concerning "AI Eligibility" that explained songs can use AI, but it can't be the "sole or core component" of the track.
“It’s ‘Drake and the Weeknd’ – but that’s not them,” Reid said. "That is not their voices; those are AI-generated voices."
Though Reid's explanation leaves room for interpretation, he admits that the past year has been one of learning for the organization and he intends for the new rules to serve as a "baseline" for them to work off of.
“We want to make sure that we have humans being recognized,” Reid added. “We can’t be awarding an AI project a Juno.”
Reid did concede that Grimes' plan to use AI in either her or potential collaborators' music could lead to eligibility provided that the human producer behind the track is Canadian.
It's not a sure-fire guarantee that the song would meet the criteria, but it would prompt a "deeper look" from the Junos.
"Heart On My Sleeve," on the other hand, could not meet these requirements since the producer is not Canadian.
While there aren't any toggles on submission forms that ask if AI was used in the creation of tracks or projects, Liz Morgante, senior manager of the academy's operations, says any projects "that raise questions" will undergo a review from the Junos music advisory committees.
In the US, however, the producer of "Heart On My Sleeve" submitted the song to the Grammys. The song has since been deemed not eligible because it wasn't conventionally distributed.
