Spotify removes AI-generated music from deceased artists' profiles

Spotify has removed AI-generated music from the official artist pages of deceased musicians after being posted without permission from their estates or record labels, according to a report by 404 Media.

The report identified an AI-generated track titled ‘Together’ that was published on the official Spotify profile of country artist Blaze Foley, who was murdered in 1989.

The song, which was accompanied by an AI-generated image of a man described as looking “nothing like Foley,” has since been removed.

Emanuel Maiberg, author of the 404 Media report, described the track as a slow country-style song featuring a male vocalist, piano and electric guitar.

Craig McDonald, owner of Lost Art Records, which distributes Foley’s music and manages his Spotify profile, told 404 Media: “I can clearly tell you that this song is not Blaze, not anywhere near Blaze’s style, at all.

It’s kind of an AI schlock bot, if you will. It has nothing to do with the Blaze you know, that whole posting has the authenticity of an algorithm.”

404 Media also reported AI-generated track 'Happened to You' was attributed to the late country singer Guy Clark and has since been taken down.

In a statement to 404 Media, Spotify said it had “flagged the issue to SoundOn, the distributor of the content in question, and it has been removed for violating our Deceptive Content policy.”

According to the platform’s content policy, Spotify prohibits impersonation intended to mislead, including the use of another person’s name or image in a deceptive manner.

Spotify said it takes action against licensors and distributors who fail to prevent this type of content, and those who commit repeated or serious violations may be permanently removed from the platform.

AI-generated music has previously been released on Spotify, with some artists such as Velvet Sundown publicly acknowledging its use; however, this is one of the first documented cases where AI-generated content has been published under an artist’s profile without any form of consent.