Spotify announces new policies embracing AI use in music while combatting "spam" and "slop"

Spotify has announced new AI-related policies, saying it will not ban AI-generated music unless it is "spam" or "slop" and will support accounts' "freedom to use AI creatively."

According to a statement released today, Spotify's new policies will focus on "improved enforcement of impersonation violations," "a new spam filtering system" and "AI disclosures for music with industry-standard credits."

These new rules will allow AI-generated music accounts to continue posting music on the platform while encouraging said accounts to label their work as involving AI.

"While AI is changing how some music is made, our priorities are constant," read the statement.

"We support artists’ freedom to use AI creatively while actively combating its misuse by content farms and bad actors."

Spotify's approach of not eliminating AI-generated music from its service was vocalised by executives at a press conference on Tuesday about the new policies.

"We're not here to punish artists for using AI authentically and responsibly," said Charlie Hellman, Spotify's vice president and head of music product, on Tuesday.

"We hope that artists’ use of AI production tools will enable them to be more creative than ever."

Spotify also revealed it had removed over 75 million "spammy tracks" in the past year. The new policies plan to continue filtering out "music spam" with the gradual deployment of a new spam-identifying system in the coming months.

Spotify claimed that total music payouts on the platform have grown from $1 billion (€856.5 million) in 2014 to $10 billion (€8.56 billion) in 2024, adding, "But big payouts entice bad actors." The statement said it aimed to address the issue of "slop" uploading music to unfairly obtain such large payouts.

However, data shows that very few artists receive substantial payouts from Spotify, with only about 70 individuals receiving €9 million or more.

A survey of musicians in Europe carried out by the International Artist Organisation last year found that about 70% of artists were unhappy with the amount received from streaming revenue.

A report by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) in June said that streaming services' payment structures have left many creators underpaid, with many of the musicians interviewed expressing concerns as to how much of that revenue ends up in their hands.

In the IMRO study, musicians also voiced concerns about the rise of AI and its potential negative impact on human musicians who already struggle to make a living from music.

Spotify has recently faced public backlash for allowing activity from accounts such as Velvet Sundown, an artist account whose music, lyrics, visuals and stories are entirely AI-generated. Velvet Sundown's top song has over 3.1 million listens on Spotify.

Similarly, Xania Monet is a fully AI-generated account posting R&B music that has accumulated over 17 million total streams. A Billboard report published yesterday estimated Monet's songs generated over €42,800 in less than two months.

Billboard also reported Monet had been signed last week in a multimillion-dollar record deal by independent music company Hallwood Media after a bidding war in which one label allegedly offered as much as $3 million (€2.5 million).

Competitor platform Deezer has said that around 28% of its daily uploads are fully AI-generated music, an increase from earlier this year. Albeit, Deezer said it believes up to 70% of plays of these tracks are fraudulent and thus have been filtered out of royalty payments.

Unlike Deezer, which looks for any AI-related activity, Spotify described the use of AI as "a spectrum, not a binary" and said, "The industry needs a nuanced approach to AI transparency, not to be forced to classify every song as either 'is AI' or 'not AI.'"

Some artists have already spoken out against the new policies.

"I see in my Spotify Artist Profile that all the sudden my real-time listening numbers jumped from almost nothing to a lot," said Hungarian composer Peter Sas on X.

"And I already know it's a crappy AI promotion Bot which will get my music taken down by Spotify and I can do nothing."

South African DJ Yolophonik suggested the policies could be misused by Spotify itself, writing on X, "What’s really stopping platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music from creating their own AI artists and paying themselves?"

Many artists have previously spoken out against the presence of AI-generated accounts in music.

In a now-deleted TikTok video, Kehlani said, "Nothing and no one on earth will ever be able to justify AI to me, especially not fucking AI in the creative arts in which people have worked hard for."

Kehlani said the use of AI is unfair, as success in music is something human artists have "worked hard for, trained for, slept on the floor for, got injuries for, worked for their entire lives."

SZA also spoke out about AI, adding her concerns about the environmental harm of AI use.

"Hey, I hate AI," said SZA on an Instagram story.

"Please don’t make any AI images of me or songs. People and children are dying from the harm and pollution AI energy centers are creating."

The Harvard Business Review estimated that by 2026, global AI energy centres would increase their energy demand 10 times its level in 2024 and exceed the annual electricity consumption of a country the size of Belgium.