Spotify Is Finally Doing Something About AI Artists

Spotify is finally taking a stronger stand on AI artists. Starting in mid-September, the company will add a new AI Persona label to artist profiles that use an AI-made identity. More importantly, Spotify will stop pushing those artists through its own recommendations by default. AI music is not being banned, but at least you will know when the “artist” you're listening to isn't actually a real person.

The new AI Persona badge will appear on profiles where the artist's public identity was made with AI. Spotify says the label is about the person behind the music, not the way the song itself was made. That is an important difference.

A real musician who uses AI tools to make or edit a song will not get the badge just for doing that. The label is meant for profiles that present an AI-made character as the artist. Spotify will also use a Likely AI Persona label when it believes a profile may be AI-made but has not confirmed it yet.

Artists can tell Spotify that their profile is an AI Persona, but Spotify will also check some accounts itself. The company plans to use both human review and AI tools to find profiles that may use fake photos or identities. Artists will be able to appeal if Spotify gets it wrong.

To be honest, I think the label should have arrived much sooner. AI music has become good enough that finding out who – or what – made a song is not always easy anymore.

Here's the more interesting part, though. Spotify will not include AI Personas in its editorial or personal recommendations by default. That means these artists should stop appearing in places such as your recommended music unless you have chosen to follow them.

That is a much bigger deal than adding a small badge to a profile. Spotify's recommendation system is one of the main ways people find new music on the service. Removing AI Personas from that system gives real artists a better chance to reach new listeners.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have a problem with someone making music with AI and putting it online. If people want to listen to it, that's their choice. The problem starts when a fake artist is made to look like a real person and Spotify then pushes that music to millions of users.

Spotify has another rule that should help here. Music that copies the voice of a real artist without permission can be removed from the service. That applies whether the voice was copied with AI or another method.

There are still some questions, of course. Spotify is not trying to detect every AI-made song, and the AI Persona badge does not tell you if AI was used to make the music. A human-looking artist could still release AI-made tracks without getting the label.

Still, I like where Spotify is going with this. AI music isn't going away, and trying to ban all of it would probably create even more problems. Giving listeners a clear label and keeping fake artists out of recommendations seems like a much better first step.

Now - I guess- Spotify just needs to make sure the system actually works. AI can create a very convincing fake person in seconds these days, so finding all of them may prove much harder than adding a badge.