The AI cover of Taeyeon's 'To.X,' featuring voices synthesized to sound like Jungkook from BTS, IU, Baek Yerin, AESPA's Winter, BLACKPINK's Rosé, EXO's Baekhyun and D.O., NCT's Jaehyun, Haechan, and New Jeans' Hanni, MONSTA X's I.M, and The Boyz's Hyunjae, is creating a buzz. These videos, featuring voices generated by artificial intelligence (AI) technology trained on the voices of these idols, have gained significant traction on YouTube.
Essentially, these artists have no direct association with the original performers. AI covers involve using artificial intelligence to transform the vocals of existing songs into the voices of other individuals. This concept gains immense popularity as it allows fans to enjoy new songs with the voices of their favorite artists. Particularly, Taeyeon's 'To.X' has garnered attention with several AI covers. Recently, an online community post titled 'The Trendy Taeyeon 'To.X' AI Cover Among Idol Fans' has been a hot topic. These videos have garnered tens of thousands of views, with Baekhyun's version reaching an impressive 1.26 million views as of the 25th, and Haechan's cover version recording 610,000 views.
'To.X' is an R&B song with a sophisticated guitar riff and a rhythmic melody. Its lyrics convey the realization of being controlled by someone else and announcing the end of a relationship, exuding a poignant atmosphere. Consequently, versions by skilled vocalists or those with exceptional voices seem to be prevalent.
Just like Taeyeon's 'To.X' AI cover, many AI cover songs gained popularity last year as well. From globally renowned artists singing domestic hit songs to the latest tracks sung in the voices of deceased artists, it created a new atmosphere in the music industry, made possible by the power of AI.
However, there is a growing call for regulation, primarily due to copyright issues surrounding AI cover songs. Especially considering the simplicity of creating AI cover songs, this area is expanding rapidly. According to global market analysis firm MarketsandMarkets, the global AI music market is expected to grow by more than tenfold over the next ten years, from $229 million in 2020 to $2.66 billion by 2032.
In response, the government has introduced guidelines, showing movement toward regulating AI covers. Last year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Copyright Committee announced an 'AI-Copyright Utilization Guide,' and a bill amending the 'Content Industry Promotion Act' containing obligations to indicate the use of AI to prevent side effects of AI content.
Choi, Chairman of the Korea Music Copyright Association, stated, "Preventive legislative measures are necessary to ensure that content in which authors have invested significant time and money is not misused without fair compensation. I hope that more people will recognize the need for legal amendments and that exemplary legislative cases will be established through this public hearing."
-Please take this seriously...
-I really wish they'd stop with the AI covers... It's not right for these singers to just swap out their hard-worked songs with AI covers of other artists' voices.
-Seriously, almost every celebrity has been affected by it.
-I hate AI covers.
-Jungkook has mentioned he dislikes AI multiple times, his fans neet to stop using it~~
-It's not just about pros and cons, it's all cons. It's not being used for anything good, it's not even being utilized properly, it's just ignoring copyrights and not getting permission, synthesizing someone else's voice.
-This song in particular seems to have more AI covers.
-There are so many To.X AI versions...
-Wow, there really are people crediting Taeyeon's song's popularity to AI covers... Do they want to falsify it like that...
-I don't know about IU, but Jungkook's AI covers are everywhere, they're consumed like crazy without conscience, not even getting many views...
-AI covers are really not great... Sometimes when I read comments, where they belittle the original singer and praise the AI cover singer, it makes me dislike it even more.
