“I don’t know what to think of artificial intelligence, I think it’s crazy but at the same time I’m afraid for my job!” Angèle said on social media. It must be said that the bubbly Belgian singer must have been slightly disconcerted when she heard a perfect replica of her voice covering the hit Sayan by Gazo and Heuss l’Enfoiré. A song that she has never performed.
This deception is the work of Lnkhey, beatmaker and more generally artist. The latter succeeded in this bluffing sleight of hand thanks to RVC, a software allowing to reproduce any voice identically. Contacted by phone, he explains: “To obtain this result, I isolated about ten minutes of Angèle’s voice from her songs, I then transmitted the audio tracks to RVC. After that, I modified the melody a little bit so that it could go with the voice of the artist. I ended up recording myself singing the lyrics and the AI finished the job by replacing my voice with that of Angèle!” Once posted, the cover made the buzz, generating hundreds of thousands of views on social networks, an “unexpected” success for the young man. This was relayed by many media and even reached the interpreter of Balance your what had fun with it through a Tik Tok video.
In the United States, talks are underway between Universal Music, Warner and Google to legalize and regulate this practice through specific copyright regulations. With the aim of extending the possibilities of musical creation while respecting and remunerating artists.
The music industry wants its share of fake AI-generated covers
In France, the legal framework around audio deepfakes remains rather vague. Nevertheless, according to Didier Félix, a lawyer specializing in music law, such use of Angèle’s voice could be criminally reprehensible. The artist could have sued for “use of personality rights” among other things.
In this case, the atmosphere remains good-natured and amuses all parties. For Lnkhey, author of the recovery, it is only a “funny way to explore new technological possibilities”. The beatmaker explains: “It allowed me to get some exposure for my real musical projects but it won’t go beyond social networks, there is no desire for profit. I was able to exchange quickly with Heuss l’Enfoiré, the author of the sound, and to be picked up by different media, it’s all very benevolent!”