Grimes: A Textbook Case of Early Adoption

Grimes is literally offering a class in how an artist can run towards, and not away from, new tech. For anyone that missed it, yesterday she shared that she would split royalties 50 percent with anyone who used her generative voice to make a new song. She's the biggest name I've seen who is figuring out how to use these new trends and tech to her advantage.

I also loved Rob Abelow 's take on this:

Click the above image for the full, worthwhile thread.

This is all moving so quickly, that some of what Grimes is saying may not pan out or even prove viable. But to be clear, it's commendable how quickly she's jumping to experiment--being willing and able to get things wrong is the key for anyone to ultimately get them right. My quick questions/thoughts:

(1) Grimes says she will share 50 percent, but 50 percent of what? Master? Publishing?

(2) Grimes says she will "do copyright takedowns" for "toxic lyrics" with her voice. But that would not actually be a copyright violation. If anything, it would be a rights of publicity issue. And we don't yet know for sure if rights of publicity will hold up in court in the context of generative vocals.

(3) Grimes may ultimately not be able to legally control much or any of what anyone does or doesn't do with her voice. But by working with public, creative interest and trend, instead of against, she's definitely increasing the likelihood that she will turn a neutral or a negative into a big win. She deserves all credit for that!

(4) This approach is not for the faint of heart or the controlling of brand. You get the sense from Grimes' tweet (shared as the main image above) that she's obviously working out the details and realizing some of the challenges in public, in realtime. And one of those challenges is that it's almost a guarantee that some of the art made with Grimes' voice isn't going to be "on brand," or even potentially remotely acceptable. This works for Grimes, who identifies herself as an art project more than a musician. It may not work for many other acts.

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