When AI slop started making the rounds on Spotify — bands like The Velvet Sundown for instance — users urged Spotify to do something about it. They wanted a label showing that the music on their Discover Weekly and recommendations was actually created by AI. Some users even went so far as to say they should "boycott Spotify" until a label was made.
On Thursday, Spotify said it would start doing just that, saying in a press release that "aggressively protecting against the worst parts of Gen AI is essential to enabling its potential for artists and producers." The platform is integrating a new spam filtering system, AI disclosures, and "improved enforcement of impersonation violations" like deepfakes.
Spotify worked with DDEX, or the Digital Data Exchange, which is a standards-setting organization in the music industry, to require a "new industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits." This is because, as Spotify says, many artists responsibly use AI tools while creating music, so adding a simple "AI" or "Not AI" label doesn't actually solve the issue of listeners wanting to know if they're listening to AI music.
"This standard gives artists and rights holders a way to clearly indicate where and how AI played a role in the creation of a track—whether that’s AI-generated vocals, instrumentation, or post-production," Spotify wrote in its press release. "This change is about strengthening trust across the platform. It’s not about punishing artists who use AI responsibly or down-ranking tracks for disclosing information about how they were made."
"At its best, AI is unlocking incredible new ways for artists to create music and for listeners to discover it. At its worst, AI can be used by bad actors and content farms to confuse or deceive listeners, push 'slop' into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists working to build their careers," Spotify's press release read. "That kind of harmful AI content degrades the user experience for listeners and often attempts to divert royalties to bad actors."
The new impersonation policy Spotify released specifically details how it plans to give artists stronger protections against AI voice clones. Spotify plans to attack spam music — like "mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop" — by rolling out a new system that "will identify uploaders and tracks engaging in these tactics, tag them, and stop recommending them." They're going to start conservatively so they don't accidentally punish the wrong people, and then add more signals as the system ramps up.
"These updates are the latest in a series of changes we’re making to support a more trustworthy music ecosystem for artists, for rightsholders, and for listeners. We’ll keep them coming as the tech evolves, so stay tuned," Spotify wrote.
