Spotify cracks down on AI ‘slop’ – these are the changes you’ll see

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Spotify is introducing new policies around AI music.
• The new policy pushes back against impersonation and spam.
• The streaming service will now clearly label AI-generated music.

One of the most popular music streaming platforms is taking steps to help protect both artists and users against the misuse of AI.

In an announcement today, Spotify said it was making several policy changes related to AI-generated content on its platform. These changes are designed not only to help people know when songs are made by AI (or when AI was used in the process at all) but also to fight against the misuse of AI in music.

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Spotify notes the fight against spam isn’t necessarily new, adding that it’s been fighting junk tracks for over a decade. AI though, has escalated things significantly. In the past year alone, Spotify says, it says it has removed more than 75 million “spammy” tracks from its service. 

What’s changing on the streaming platform

Here’s a look at the changes you’ll see in Spotify:

A fight against impersonation: First, Spotify says it will remove music that impersonates another artist’s voice without that artist’s permission — whether the content is made with AI or not. Spotify says this can mean an uploader that is pretending to be the original artist or someone presenting themselves as an “AI version” of an existing artist.

This includes content that doesn’t name an artist in the metadata or credits but contains vocals “clearly recognizable as the exact voice of another artist” without that artist’s permission.

A new spam filtering system: Since Spotify offers payouts to artists based on how often users play a song, scammers are trying to take advantage. The company explained that spam tactics like “mass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop” are easier to produce than ever with AI. Not only does this dilute the royalty pool for real artists, but it also reduces attention for those artists.

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Spotify says that’s why it’s introducing a new music spam filter system that automatically identifies uploaders and tracks engaging in these tactics, tags those tracks, and stops recommending them. The music streamer says this system is rolling out “conservatively over the coming months” to avoid penalizing the wrong uploaders.

A labeling system for AI-generated content: Spotify acknowledges that many listeners want to know about the songs they’re listening to, but there’s no solid way to know for sure if AI was used in the creation process. That’s why it’s helping develop an industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits called DDEX. 

Artists will now have to clearly indicate how AI played a role in the creation of a track, including vocals, instrumentation, and post-production. Spotify explains that this “is not about punishing artists who use AI responsibly or down-ranking tracks for disclosing information about how they were made,” but for strengthening trust.