No human voice, no songwriting royalties: The hit that has South Korea asking what an artiste is

South Korea is grappling with a new question over what constitutes an artiste, after an AI-generated song climbed to No 2 on the Melon Top 100 streaming chart. The hit, titled "The Adult I Dreamed Of" by the little-known act Meomuru, was created by songwriting and production duo Glorywave, comprising Lee Yong-seok and Choi Sung-hyuk.

The pair crafted the lyrics and concept, then used the AI platform Suno to generate the melody and vocals, before editing the track themselves. This sets Meomuru apart from virtual boy band Plave, whose human members perform, but their voices are generated by motion capture and facial tracking. The song has sparked debate, with some musicians arguing that AI acts undermine working performers, while others see it as an opportunity for those who cannot sing or afford a studio.

South Korea's Copyright Act only protects works with human creative input, leaving the law unclear on machine-generated contributions. Glorywave has not registered the song with the Korea Music Copyright Association (Komca), arguing that Komca's criteria for AI-assisted music registration were withdrawn after pushback from the creative community.

Lawmakers are now considering whether to expand the AI Basic Act, amid calls for mandatory labeling of AI-generated music.