“Music has always been shaped by technology,” Spotify observes in a recent update of its work to control AI music submissions. “From multitrack tape and synthesizers to digital audio workstations and Auto-Tune, every generation of artists and producers has used new tools to push sound and storytelling forward.”
The pace of generative AI music creation and submission has motivated the company to detail its recent efforts to keep the service’s music authorship honest and human.
Three key initiatives are described today.
Stronger impersonation rules
Spotify has always guarded against deceptive content. The company observes that AI tools have made generating vocal deepfakes of popular artists easier than ever before. A new public policy will be released, clarifying how the company handles complaints about AI clones. Perhaps more importantly, Spotify is increasing its investments in protections against all impersonation tactics.
Music spam filter
Spotify observes that its massive growth in artist payouts ($1B in 2014 to $10B in 2024) has motivated “bad actors.” Spotify promises a new spam filter later this fall. The company details “forms of slop” that include mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, and artificially short track abuse.
AI disclosures for music with industry-standard credits
Spotify confides that many listeners want more information about what they’re listening to and the role of AI technology in the music they stream. But there is currently no way for artists to share how they are (responsibly) using AI. “The use of AI tools is increasingly a spectrum, not a binary,” Spotify declares, “where artists and producers may choose to use AI to help with some parts of their productions and not others.” The company says that a nuanced solution is needed, rather than a binary declaration that classifies a song as either AIi or not-AI.
Spotify talks about “a more trustworthy music ecosystem for artists, rightsholders, and for listeners.”
“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. 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.” — Spotify
This article is a summary; we recommend reading the source announcement which is HERE.
