Spotify is cracking down on AI, removing 75 million tracks and targeting impersonators.
In a statement shared yesterday (September 25), the streaming platform said that it is taking a stand against music intended to “confuse or deceive listeners, push ‘slop’ into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists working to build their careers.”
This will involve a new impersonation policy, following reports that AI-generated songs are being uploaded to dead musicians’ profiles, an updated spam filter and standardised AI disclosures in music credits.
An updated music spam filter, which will come into effect this autumn, will combat “mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop have become easier to exploit as AI tools make it simpler for anyone to generate large volumes of music.”
This system will also flag uploaders of these tracks and stop recommending their content to users.
They went on to say that they’re “ramping up” investments against “content mismatch,” which occurs when impersonators fraudulently upload music to another artist’s profile. The company has partnered with music distributors to “better stop these attacks at the source” and also reduced the “wait time for review” of such content, “enabling artists to report ‘mismatch’ even in the pre-release state.”
Additionally, the platform is introducing a new system to inform listeners of the role of AI in the songs they’re playing, so that artists who are “responsibly” using the technology have the opportunity to be transparent. This applies to vocals, songwriting, production, instrumentation, mixing, or mastering.
In a press statement, Spotify said: “While AI is changing how some music is made, our priorities are constant. We’re investing in tools to protect artist identity, enhance the platform, and provide listeners with more transparency.
“We support artists’ freedom to use AI creatively while actively combating its misuse by content farms and bad actors,” they continued. “Spotify does not create or own music; this is a platform for licensed music where royalties are paid based on listener engagement, and all music is treated equally, regardless of the tools used to make it.”
It comes after a seemingly AI-generated band The Velvet Sundown, made headlines earlier this year for gaining around 400,000 monthly Spotify listeners – despite existing for less than a month.
Deezer also recently revealed that 28% of music uploaded to the streaming platform is fully AI-generated.
It comes during a period of controversy for AI technology in the music industry, with a recent study sharing the stark warning that people working in music are likely to lose a quarter of their income to Artificial Intelligence over the next four years.
Meanwhile, big-name British artists, including Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Elton John, urged Keir Starmer to protect the work of creatives earlier this week, ahead of an imminent UK-US tech deal during Donald Trump’s visit to the country.
Recently, Kehlani also criticised an AI-generated artist receiving a $3million (£2.2million) record deal.
Elsewhere, SZA has hit out at AI users for being “codependent on a machine”, and James Cameron has revealed he is worried that the technology could lead to a real-life version of his film The Terminator.
In other Spotify news, Massive Attack have removed their music from the platform entirely. This is related to reports that the streamer’s CEO Daniel Ek has made significant investments “in a company producing military munition drones and AI technology integrated into fighter aircraft”.
Other artists who are boycotting Spotify over Ek’s military investments include King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof.