AR Rahman calls out remixes being done without permission: ‘You can’t use a song 6 years later, say you are reimagining it’

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Rahman then spoke about AI being misused and emerging as the “bigger evil” and said that if it is not monitored, it could result in people losing their jobs. “An even bigger evil is people misusing AI and not paying the composer even if they are borrowing his style. We need to bell this cat, because it could lead to major ethical issues. People could lose jobs,” he said and added that he uses AI in his work but only in the mastering process. “AI helps in the mastering process, but creating a tune still requires a human heart and philosophical mind. I believe the future will belong to real musicians going on stage with a guitar and a song…. I feel that, with digitisation, we will value the flaws even more―‘Oh, it’s real, see? He is out of tune.’”

He also addressed using late singers Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed’s voices for Lal Salaam and said that he compensated their families fairly well for allowing him to use their voices. Talking about the same, he said, “I was watching people recreating famous singers on Instagram when Aishwarya (director Aishwarya Rajinikanth) asked for a folk voice. I said I wished we had a voice like Shahul’s. We reached out to his family, got their approval and compensated them fairly. It is a great way to honour them, rather than just taking their work.”