AI-Generated Music Poses Threat to Independent Artists’ Identity and Authenticity

Award-winning singer Emily Portman was shocked when fans praised her for a new album that she hadn’t released. After investigating, she discovered that an album titled ‘Orca’ had been uploaded to various streaming platforms, using AI to imitate her style and voice. The album, along with others, was falsely credited to Portman, raising concerns about the increasing trend of AI-generated music impersonating artists. The fraudulent albums, which contained tracks with names similar to Portman’s typical song titles, were created without any human input. While some fans were fooled, the lack of genuine emotion in the AI tracks made them feel ‘vacuous’ to Portman. This type of impersonation is growing among independent musicians, who are more vulnerable to such frauds due to fewer resources to tackle them. While Spotify eventually removed the fake albums, Portman expressed frustration over the difficulty of regaining control of her artist profile. The situation highlights the lack of protections for artists and the growing challenge of dealing with AI in the music industry. Portman is now working on her first solo album in 10 years, emphasizing the importance of real, human creativity in music.