The Beatles' “Now and Then” has been nominated for record of the year and best rock performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards — marking the first time a song created with the help of artificial intelligence has earned a Grammy nomination.
When Now and Then was first released in late 2023, the revelation that it was finalized using artificial intelligence caused a stir. At the time, many fans speculated that the remaining members of the Fab Four – Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr – must have used genetic artificial intelligence to impersonate the late John Lennon. This was actually not the case. Instead, the Beatles used a form of artificial intelligence known as “stem separation” to help them clean up a 60-year-old, low-fidelity demo that Lennon recorded during his lifetime and make it usable in a complete master recording.
By separating the logs, the Beatles could isolate Lennon's vocals and get rid of the excess noise. Proponents of this form of technology say it has significant benefits for rebuilding and cleaning older catalogs. Recently, AudioShake, a leading company in this space, partnered with Disney Music Group to help the media giant clean up its legacy catalog to “unlock new listening and fan engagement experiences,” such as lyric videos , film/TV licensing opportunities, re-mastering and more.
AI has been a controversial topic for the Recording Academy for the past couple of years. In the summer of 2023, the Recording Academy, led by the CEO Harvey Mason Jr.hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic, bringing in record labels, tech executives, streaming services and artists to gather their thoughts on potential Grammy eligibility for AI-assisted music or music creation. One of the artists included in the roundtable was Ghostwriter, the anonymous producer who started the AI hype with his song “Heart on My Sleeve,” which spoofed Drake and The Weeknd. Mason said at New York Times that he reached out to Ghostwriter directly on social media and was impressed with “Heart on My Sleeve.”
Later that year, Ghostwriter's team submitted “Heart on My Sleeve” for two categories at the Grammy Awards—Best Rap Song and Song of the Year—both songwriting awards that would be credited to Ghostwriter, since he wrote the melody and lyrics of the track without the help of AI.
Later, Mason had to clarify his comments to Times after the article caught fire on the Internet with a number of news outlets republishing it Times headline story that amounted to allowing “Heart on My Sleeve” to be submitted in the songwriting categories with the Recording Academy applauding the way Ghostwriter used artificial intelligence to spoof Drake and The Weeknd's voices in the production of his song without permission.
“I'm sorry, but I have to clear up some of this bad and really inaccurate information that's starting to get around,” Mason said. in a video posted on social media. “This version of 'Heart on My Sleeve' that uses AI voice modeling that sounds like Drake and The Weeknd is not eligible for a Grammy.”
When the Ghostwriter spoke Bulletin board for his digital cover in October 2023, he argued that he would still be eligible for the Grammy categories he submitted to. A representative for the Recording Academy later confirmed that he was still eligible for the songwriting awards, but only through a last-minute submission of a new version of “Heart on My Sleeve,” released to streaming services, that removed the AI voice elements. The new version of the song was released on the same day, September 8, that Mason Jr. made his statement clarifying that the AI version of the song was not suitable, but never mentioned the version that was released without AI. After all, Ghostwriter's “Heart On My Sleeve” failed to earn a nomination last year.
The two nominations for “Now and Then” mark the Beatles' first Grammy Award nominations in decades and the fourth time the band has been nominated in the Record of the Year category. They were first nominated in the category in the mid-1960s with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and were later also nominated for “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be”.
The Beatles have never won in this category.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-beatles-now-and-then-first-ai-assisted-song-grammy-nomination-history/
