Céline Dion’s Team Sounds Alarm on AI-Generated Music
Céline Dion’s representatives are urging fans to be wary of AI-generated music falsely attributed to the iconic singer. Warning that these tracks are circulating online, the representatives stated that the music is “fake and not approved” and does not belong “to her official discography.”
A five-time Grammy winner, Dion is celebrated for her powerful voice, which has captivated audiences with hits like “Because You Loved Me” and “My Heart Will Go On.” However, her musical output has been less frequent recently as she battles stiff-person syndrome. The condition, diagnosed in 2022, has affected her singing voice. Despite the health challenges, Dion remains optimistic. “I’ll be on stage. I don’t know when exactly, but trust me I will scream it out loud,” she told the BBC last year, a sentiment echoed in the 2024 documentary I Am: Céline Dion.
Dion is not alone in raising concerns about AI’s impact on the music industry. The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), a non-profit advocacy group, has issued an open letter to the tech industry. The group’s public statement urges tech companies not to “infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.” They emphasize the need to “protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.” However, certain machine-learning tools have found a place within the industry, showing promise. For example, AI played a key role in the production of The Beatles’ song “Now and Then.” The song’s production involved extracting John Lennon’s vocal from a damaged demo tape, ultimately helping the track earn a Grammy for Best Rock Performance.
The Recording Academy has established clear guidelines about the use of AI in music production. The rules state that any “work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any category,” while also requiring that the “human authorship component of the work submitted must be meaningful.” The Beatles’ track met these standards, but the unauthorized AI-generated tracks using Dion’s voice likely violate these regulations, according to industry experts.
“It’s really about kind of coming up with a framework for using it ethically,” said Jen Jacobsen, the executive director of the Artist Rights Alliance. “I don’t think we can put the genie back into the bottle, and nor would we necessarily want to, in that AI does provide some great opportunities if used responsibly.”
