In November 2023, YouTube introduced DreamTrack to YouTube Shorts. The tool allows users to create 30-second songs featuring the AI-generated vocals of nine participating artists, powered by Google DeepMind. Users can type in a prompt and then select from the list of artists, including John Legend, Charli XCX, T-Pain, and more.
The boundary between creator and consumer has been blurring for years, as consumers increasingly seek active, participatory experiences with the entertainment they are fans of, and technological advancements make it possible. DreamTrack leans into this shift, giving fans more of the experiences they want and artists new avenues for engagement (and eventually, remuneration). While terms of YouTube’s deal with the participating artists are not disclosed, other companies and creators are experimenting with monetising vocal models. For example, the startup VoiceSwap and Grimes’ Elf.tech have engineered solutions where creators can buy a license from the original artist to professionally release their creations, or in Grimes’ case, split the master recording royalties.
However, there is a reason DreamTrack is repeatedly billed as an “experiment”. In YouTube’s press release, artists’ quotes paint them as curious to see what comes out of the new tool, but careful not to fully endorse the concept yet. Tracks are limited to 30 seconds — which is a natural fit for Shorts, but also allows YouTube to skirt the possibility of anyone wanting to widely distribute their creation. Most tellingly, at the same time as YouTube marches out DreamTrack, Google is trying to persuade the U.S. Copyright Office that training their AI models on copyrighted material should be “fair use” and thus, not require a license. In the same proceedings, Sony Music unsurprisingly argued the opposite and specifically took aim at unauthorised deepfakes. All stakeholders are moving forward with caution — although they seem to recognise that they are better off figuring out how to maximise the opportunity from AI than trying to stop it.