Did you know the guy claiming to be The Velvet Sundown’s spokesperson was Canadian?
With AI music generators like Suno and Udio making it easier to produce more passable-sounding music, streaming services like Spotify are being flooded with AI-generated content (remember the controversy surrounding The Velvet Sundown?). In response, Spotify has announced new policies aimed at cracking down on AI-generated content, impersonation, and the disclosure of whether AI was used to create the song (looking at you, Ye).
Spotify’s global head of music product, Charlie Hellman, said in a press briefing that the goal of these initiatives is to “protect authentic artists from spam and impersonation and deception.” However, Hellman said that the company wants to let artists use AI if they desire.
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 a song’s creation. According to The Verge, this will include using AI to create sounds that end up in the track (vocals, instruments), utilizing AI as an assistant during the mixing and mastering of the track, and other aspects of the song creation process.
So far, fifteen record labels and distributors have committed to adopting the AI disclosures. There is no official timeline for the release of the standards yet. Distributors will also need to update their process for how credits are delivered to Spotify.
The platform has also increased its response to impersonation, which is defined as including another artist’s voice, real or fake, without their permission. This impersonation response primarily targets AI voice clones, deepfakes, and other forms of vocal impersonation.
Spotify also addressed the claims that AI-generated artists are being added to playlists to avoid paying artists, which Sam Duboff, head of marketing and policy, called “Categorically and absolutely false.” Duboff also stated that Spotify does not create any of the music on the platform, whether using AI or not.
In terms of AI songs being added to the curated playlists, Duboff commented to The Verge that “On tracks that appear to be primarily prompt-generated, we’re seeing a very low level of engagement.”
Source: The Verge
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