YouTube announced Thursday that it is introducing a new artificial intelligence-powered tool allowing users to record audio using the voices of some of today’s most well-known musicians.
The new feature, named “Dream Track,” is a collaboration with nine musical artists, including John Legend, Demi Lovato, T-Pain, and Sia. Users can generate short audio tracks of up to 30 seconds through text-based prompts, using the voice and style of these participating artists.
Initially, around 100 creators in the U.S. will have access to this tool, which will be restricted to YouTube Shorts, the platform’s short-form video feature that competes with TikTok, owned by Chinese technology giant ByteDance.
This launch comes as YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet, seeks to explore the intersection of AI technology and music while addressing the ethical and legal concerns associated with generative AI.
The practice of using artists’ voices without their consent for AI-generated content has faced criticism from record labels and lawmakers, who liken it to plagiarism.
In a blog post on Thursday, YouTube executives stated, “AI has brought music to the cusp of a new creative era,” and expressed their hope that the platform’s approach would be “defined by partnership and responsibility.”
YouTube’s head of music, Lyor Cohen, and VP of emerging experiences and community products, Toni Reid, wrote in the blog post that the initial phase of the experiment aims to explore how the technology could foster deeper connections between artists, creators, and their fans.
The company also shared samples of AI-generated music experiments created in collaboration with Google DeepMind and featured statements from the participating artists, who view the platform as a way to engage with the emerging AI music industry.
“As an artist, I am happy to have a seat at the table and I look forward to seeing what the creators dream up during this period,” Legend said.
Lovato remarked, “The development of AI technology is rapidly changing the way we navigate the landscape and I believe as artists we need to be a part of shaping what that future looks like.”
Recently, AI-generated music has gained traction on the site, amassing millions of views without permission from artists or record labels.
A notable example is the viral song “Heart On My Sleeve,” which used AI-generated vocals from Drake and The Weeknd. In April, Universal Music Group requested YouTube and other music sharing platforms to remove the song due to copyright concerns.
The introduction of Dream Track is part of a broader initiative by Google, YouTube’s parent company, to advance AI-related experiments.
Last month, Google unveiled “Dream Screen,” a tool that allows users to add AI-generated backgrounds or short videos to their content simply by entering a prompt.
