Spotify to distinguish AI artists from real people – and stop recommending them

Spotify is to label AI artists and exclude them from algorithm recommendations as part of a crackdown on fake performers.

The world’s largest music streaming platform is creating a label for AI-generated artist identities called “AI personas” that will appear on the artist profile and on track listings on playlists.
It means that from September AI-generated artists such as the Velvet Sundown will carry the persona label and will be blocked from personalised recommendations by default. The aim is to differentiate these deepfake artists from real performers who might lose out on streams to artificial rivals.

Spotify said: “True artist-fan connection can only be built on a foundation of trust and authenticity. In music, that means listeners need to be able to trust that the artist behind the music is who they say they are. That’s more essential than ever in the age of generative AI.”

Last year Spotify revealed it had removed 75m spam tracks from its platform over a 12-month period as AI tools created a flood of fake music. Spotify’s legitimate catalogue stands at 100m tracks.

Spotify will allow music creators to reveal if their identities are AI-created – and will then label them as an AI persona – but it will not rely on self-disclosure alone. The company said it would use human review and AI investigative tools to determine if artists were fake. Although the new rule technically applies to AI “identities”, Spotify says AI-generated profiles are invariably a front for AI-made tracks as well.

The company said: “Listeners have been clear in telling us that they don’t like seeing an artist profile that seems human, only to find out that the persona is AI-generated.”

Last year there was debate about the origins of the Velvet Sundown – a 70s-style US rock band – before the band’s social media channels confirmed the subterfuge. A statement described the group as an AI creation that was “somewhere in between” human and machine.

The Velvet Sundown has 117,000 monthly listeners on Spotify but its page has no clear AI labelling, although the artist profile describes the four-piece as a “synthetic music project”.

In January there was further discussion about Sienna Rose, a soul singer who entered Spotify’s viral top 50 but did not appear to be real, having never played a gig or released any videos despite releasing a prolific burst of material over a 10-week period. The Spotify profile for Rose, who has more than half a million monthly listeners, does not clarify whether she is AI or not.