Céline Dion Warns Fans About Unauthorized AI-Generated Music Using Her Voice and Image

Celine Dion cautions fans against 'AI-generated music' falsely featuring her voice, image

"Please be advised that these recordings are fake and not approved." Celine Dion is addressing "AI-generated" recordings of her voice and image that are being circulated online. A statement posted to the five-time Grammy Award winner's Instagram account Friday read, "It has come to our attention that unsanctioned, AI-generated music purporting to contain Celine Dion's musical performances, and name and likeness, is currently circulating online and across various digital service providers." "Please be advised that these recordings are fake and not approved, and are not songs from her discography," the statement added. The statement did not specify or name any of the recordings being circulated. The statement comes amid ongoing discussion of the use of artificial intelligence in the music industry. In April 2024, more than 200 artists including Jon Bon Jovi, Billie Eilish and Peter Frampton signed an open letter protesting the potential harm that AI poses to artists. The letter was put out by the organization Artist Rights Alliance and decried the "predatory use of AI to steal professional artists' voices and likenesses, violate creators' rights, and destroy the music ecosystem." Last month, over 1,000 artists came together and released the silent album "Is This What We Want?" to protest the U.K. government's proposed changes to copyright law, which could permit tech firms to use copyrighted material to help train AI models, unless artists explicitly opt out. Artists who were also featured on the album, which included 12 silent tracks that spelled out the message "The British Government Must Not Legalise Music Theft To Benefit AI Companies," included Annie Lennox, Kate Bush, Cat Stevens, Hans Zimmer, The Clash and more. "The government's proposal would hand the life's work of the country's musicians to AI companies, for free, letting those companies exploit musicians' work to outcompete them," composer and AI developer Ed Newton-Rex, who organized the album, said in a statement at the time. "It is a plan that would not only be disastrous for musicians, but that is totally unnecessary. The U.K. can be leaders in AI without throwing our world-leading creative industries under the bus." Peter Kyle, British secretary of state for Science, Innovation and Technology, said in a statement in December, "The UK has an incredibly rich and diverse cultural sector and a ground breaking tech sector which is pushing the boundaries of AI. It's clear that our current AI and copyright framework does not support either our creative industries or our AI sectors to compete on the global stage. That is why we are setting out a balanced package of proposals to address uncertainty about how copyright law applies to AI so we can drive continued growth in the AI sector and creative industries, which will help deliver on our mission of the highest sustained growth in the G7 as part of our Plan for Change." He added, "This is all about partnership: balancing strong protections for creators while removing barriers to AI innovation; and working together across government and industry sectors to deliver this." Lisa Nandy, British secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, added in a statement, "This government firmly believes that our musicians, writers, artists and other creatives should have the ability to know and control how their content is used by AI firms and be able to seek licensing deals and fair payment. Achieving this, and ensuring legal certainty, will help our creative and AI sectors grow and innovate together in partnership."

Celine Dion Warns That AI-Generated Songs Purporting To Be Hers Are Fake

Celine Dion warned fans that songs created using artificial intelligence that appear to be hers are "fake" and "not approved." "It has come to our attention that unsanctioned, AI-generated music purporting to contain Celine Dion's musical performances, and name and likeness, is currently circulating online and across various Digital Service Providers," a post on Dion's Instagram page reads. "Please be advised that these recordings are fake and not approved, and are not songs from her official discography." In April 2024, more than 200 artists signed an open letter to AI developers, tech companies and digital music services to stop using AI music-generation technology, calling it an "assault on human creativity." Billie Eilish, Aerosmith, Chappell Roan, Kacey Musgraves and more signed the open letter. Songs made using AI regularly go viral on social media. Last year, an AI-generated song that appeared to be sung by Taylor Swift went viral on TikTok with the lyrics, "So happy my Travy made it to the big game." Swift never publicly commented on the AI-created song. In 2022, Dion revealed that she had a rare neurological disorder that affects "every aspect of my daily life -- sometimes causing difficulties when I walk, and not allowing me to use my vocal cords to sing the way that I'm used to." Dion's health issues caused her to cancel and postpone performances in 2023, but she returned to the stage in July 2024 when she performed "L'hymne à l'amour" during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Céline Dion pans 'unsanctioned' AI-generated music using her name, likeness

The one and only Céline Dion is warning fans of AI-generated music said to feature her. The legendary singer's team took to Instagram Friday to flag fans regarding the artificial intelligence-generated music, calling it the "unsanctioned" use of "Celine Dion's musical performances, and name and likeness." The statement continued: "Please be advised that these recordings are fake and not approved, and are not songs from her official discography." It is unclear what prompted the statement to be issued. Dion has released music as recently as 2024 for the soundtrack to her documentary "I Am: Celine Dion," featuring her biggest hits. In 2023, she released five original songs for the soundtrack of the romantic comedy "Love Again," her first feature film in which she plays a fictionalized version of herself. Aside from her official musical comeback at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony in July, live performances from Dion, 56, have been rare since her diagnosis with stiff person syndrome. Dion first revealed the diagnosis in 2022 as the reason she had to cancel her upcoming world tour dates and Las Vegas residency. During Dion's return to the spotlight, she released her harrowing documentary, in which she suffers a violent episode of the syndrome onscreen. AI-generated music has become a problem in recent years. In 2023, the song "Heart on My Sleeve" went viral for its use of AI-generated vocals that replicated the musical likenesses of Drake and The Weeknd. In 2024, record label Universal Music Group briefly removed the catalogs of its artists from TikTok, citing the publication of AI-generated music as one of the reasons for its exit. The technology has also been a source for creative expression. In 2023, The Beatles treated fans to the band's final song, "Now and Then," and used AI technology to extract John Lennon's voice from a late-1970s demo recording. In January, former Beatle Paul McCartney cautioned that artificial intelligence could be used to "rip off" artists, urging the British government to make sure upcoming copyright reforms protect its creative industries.