“Taking over pregnant lady’s music career”: Rihanna AI songs take the internet by a storm

AI cover songs with Rihanna’s voice are making the rounds on social media, and fans are getting quite obsessed with it. Music enthusiasts often wonder what it would be like to have their favorite pop star sing any song they want. That wish has now become a reality as people are using artificial intelligence to create cover songs that would sound exactly like popular artists.

For example, Lana Del Rey’s Summertime Sadness can be heard in Justin Bieber’s voice using this AI technology. Similarly, Ariana Grande's Bloodline can also be heard in Ed Sheeran's voice using the same AI, and the results are uncannily realistic.

Social media users have been using websites that allow them to create AI vocals using a varied range of singers and songs to choose from. In some TikTok videos, content creators have even demonstrated how these AI tracks are made.

However, Riri's fans have apparently gone a little overboard with the number of AI cover songs they have made, including Cuff It by Beyoncé, This Love by Maroon 5, I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry, Kill Bill by SZA, Find Your Love by Drake, and many more. One Twitter user, @trentabitchback, joked that "AI Rihanna" was taking over the pregnant pop star's music career in 2023.

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Fans react to Rihanna AI cover songs as they experiment with the singer's voice and other famous artists' songs

It seems as if there is no stopping Rihanna's fans from making AI covers of other artists’ songs in their idol’s voice. They have created AI covers of songs from different genres than hers.

Some also experimented with Riri’s songs in other singers’ voices such as Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus. There are so many cover songs that a few people also suggested making an album of Riri’s AI cover songs. The covers sound mostly perfect. Although there are some differences in pitch and vibration, Rihanna's voice is pretty much recognizable in these AI cover songs.

Some people tweeted that these AI cover songs were the only way they would get a new album from Rihanna since the singer has not released an album in the past seven years. She released her eighth studio album, Anti, in January 2016, which included songs like Desperado, Needed Me, Love on the Brain, Never Ending, and Kiss It Better.

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Why are music companies against the use of AI cover songs?

Universal Music Group (UMG) has filed charges against AI music along with a multitude of takedown notices. They also warned Apple Music and Spotify to block AI systems from removing lyrics and music from their streaming services for use in future songs. Their major target of this takedown is AI cover songs.

It can be argued that properly labeled cover songs created with AI are not much different from popular musical artists posting covers of songs by other musical groups. However, the major music labels don’t see it this way. RIAA, the trade group, has commented that the use of AI cover songs is unauthorized, and it infringes the singers’ rights by making unauthorized copies of their works.

A spokesperson for UMG said on Wednesday, April 12:

“We have a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music and to stop platforms from ingesting content that violates the rights of artists and other creators.”

Additionally, the spokesperson added that they expect music streaming platform partners to prevent their services from being misused or used in a way that harms musical artists.