Spotify is finally taking steps to address its AI slop and clone problem

As AI music generators like Suno and Udio make it easy to churn out passable music, streamers like Spotify are getting flooded with AI-generated content, leaving audiences and artists alike to wonder what is “real” music anymore. On Thursday, Spotify announced new policies that attempt to tamp down on three problems the platform has with AI: slop, impersonation, and disclosing whether AI was used to create the music. 

The goal of the company’s efforts is to “protect authentic artists from spam and impersonation and deception” and make sure listeners don’t feel “duped,” Spotify’s global head of music product, Charlie Hellman, told reporters at a press briefing about the announcement. At the same time, he said that Spotify wants to let artists use AI if they want. 

Spotify is working with the music standards-setting organization DDEX to develop a new metadata standard for disclosing the use of AI in any part of song creation. This includes using AI to create the sounds that end up in the track, like vocals and instruments, as well using AI as an assistant during mixing and mastering the track itself, among other steps, Sam Duboff, head of marketing and policy, said …read more