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Kumi Tanioka, the composer of several games in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series, has felt compelled to issue a statement on social media after a new album, which appeared to be AI-generated, was released on various streaming platforms like YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer (h/t: Automaton).
On Twitter/X, Tanioka understandably expressed confusion, posting a screenshot of A Village Built On Wind's AI-generated album cover and questioning its origins, speculating that it could be AI or simply someone else with the same name. Nevertheless, she decided to warn people that she didn't make the album, making clear that it is someone else's work.
Following this, a music production and publishing label named Digital Sonic Design, which has published some of Tanioka’s music in the past, also issued a separate statement on the mysterious album, stating that the tracks are "completely unrelated" to Tanioka's own works.
It wrote that, though no infringement of any song rights appears to have taken place and they cannot "rule out the possibility of it simply being a case of identical names", it worried this album could "cause misunderstanding or confusion among fans," and seemed to suggest that it was completely AI-generated, based on a note on a YouTube Music listing.
In response, it characterised the album as a potential case of someone "exploiting systemic vulnerabilities in streaming service platforms," which is why it has been forced to respond.
In the past, I've heard several stories about the issue of AI-generated acts on streaming platforms, usually without disclosure, but this instance seems far, far worse than simply inventing a fictional group or singer and passing it off as a real act. Given how jumpy people are about AI right now, this could have negatively affected Tanioka if left unaddressed, especially if someone was convinced the performer was actually Kumi Tanioka (and not just some impersonator, as is the case here).
We won't inflict any of the AI-generated music on your eardrums. Instead, we'd much rather just tell you to go back and listen to the Crystal Chronicles soundtrack, which is an all-timer, or her more recent work on Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, from earlier this year.