As AI-generated covers spread, Nepali musicians fight to reclaim their voices

Artists say their songs are being recreated with cloned voices and sold on digital platforms without permission, even as the technology quietly becomes the soundtrack of everyday life.

On June 29, singer Sugam Pokharel posted a status on Facebook with a stern warning. He issued an immediate demand for the removal of unauthorised AI-generated content utilising his or other artists’ works. “If you ignore this request,” he wrote, “we will have no choice but to bring you within the jurisdiction of the law, wherever you may be, in Nepal or anywhere else in the world.” The status included screenshots of AI covers of his originals uploaded on Youtube and Tiktok.