How does this differ from cover bands that try to sounds as much like the originals as possible? If I clone Eminem and present it as Eminem, I think that would be morally and legally wrong, but what if I marketed it as “Clone Eminem” or “Not Eminem”?
I’ve heard covers of Stairway to Heaven that you’d swear are the original. If that’s ok, what’s inherently different about this?
Misrepresenting who performed an audio track is exactly that, a misrepresentation of goods sold. There are laws for that.
There is nothing in law that explicitly permits what AI sites are doing with performers' music. And the sites are not compensating the imitated performers. That's just plagiarism which is already unlawful.
But should it be illegal to clone Drake's voice and add it to a song I've written, as long as I don't claim it's the real Drake? I'm not so sure about that. It's generally considered acceptable to imitate a band's guitarist. Why not its lead singer? If I can record a cover of "Sweet Child of Mine" with a guitarist who can perfectly copy Slash, is it wrong to do the same with an AI who can copy Axl? It kind of feels different, but intellectually I'm not convinced.