ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) continues to be a big headache for Mzansi artists.
Recently, renowned DJ and producer Shimza, whose real name is Ashley Raphala, took to his X account to complain about his song allegedly being stolen and used to create AI-generated beats.
The 36-year-old DJ, known for his house music sound and high-energy performances at global festivals including Tomorrowland and Burning Man, is also acclaimed for his philanthropic annual One Man Show and for bridging South African talent with global electronic music stages.
He said AI music is going to be a serious problem.
"Grootman signed a fake artist that used AI to recreate my song from clips they got off my posts and rushed to put it out before us, the artist has no other songs, this is the only song on their profile, the artist does not even exist on Instagram or any socials. I don't know how we are going to protect the music from such, interesting times ahead," he wrote.
ALSO READ | An Ode to Motown is a must-see!Opens in new window
His post was shared as a caption to a video of Leon El Ray speaking about the song Shimza was referring to.
Producer and CEO of German-based Electric Friends Music, Leon El Ray, said he wanted to address the issue surrounding the music.
In the video, he explained how a song that had been previously released was seemingly overlooked.
"I want to speak about a new release that came out on 20 February and they already in the main place and nobody cares if this music already exists anymore," he said.
In the clip, he played both Shimza's version and his artist's song.
"Our song is one month old and nobody cares. Make your own thoughts, who copied whom, I don't want to say anything anymore make your own opinion and your own mind," he said.
"This is the game. What the people play, from small labels, small artists and it's like this."
