The Spotify logo [Getty Images]
The Spotify logo [Getty Images]

Spotify has effectively declared war on low-quality AI-generated music.

The streaming platform said Wednesday (local time) it would take steps to prevent AI-generated music from crowding out songs made by human artists.

Spotify has removed more than 50 million tracks this year that it suspects were created by AI from its recommendation lists.

In a statement released that day, Spotify called AI-generated music "slop and spam" and said such content "no longer has a place in our catalog," according to NBC and other outlets.

"We have made changes to chase this out and protect the music listening experience," the company added.

Earlier, Spotify removed 75 million tracks from its recommendation lists last year for seriously and repeatedly violating its policies.

The move comes as streaming services, including Spotify, have been scrambling to identify impersonation and deceptive content amid a flood of AI-generated music.

Spotify said it has enlisted users to help tackle the problem, but acknowledged that its AI detection tools have limits, making it increasingly difficult to flag suspicious tracks.

The concern over AI-generated music stems from its potential to cut into the earnings of human creators.

On Spotify, royalty payouts are determined in part by each artist's share of total streams. As AI-generated music multiplies and drives up the overall stream count, the share of revenue flowing to human creators shrinks accordingly.

Some creators are exploring ways to coexist with AI. Spotify introduced an "AI label" feature earlier this year that lets artists disclose when they have used AI in part of a song. Tracks suspected of being fully AI-generated are tagged with an "AI persona" label and excluded from recommendation lists.

How one man made millions from AI music fraud

The Spotify logo [Getty Images]
The Spotify logo [Getty Images]

In a separate case, a man pocketed millions of dollars in streaming royalties by using bot accounts to repeatedly play AI-generated music.

The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a press release Oct. 6 (local time) that Michael Smith, 54, of Cornelius, North Carolina, had been sentenced to 18 months in prison and two years of probation.

US Attorney Jaime McAdams said in the release that Smith "flooded music streaming platforms with automated bots instead of consumers, and fake songs instead of creativity, stealing millions of dollars in royalties that should have gone to real artists and their fans."

According to prosecutors, Smith's scheme began in 2017.

He created numerous bot accounts on streaming platforms using email addresses purchased online, then used AI to generate music and deployed software running on multiple computers to play the tracks on repeat — making it appear as though large numbers of listeners were tuning in.

Smith racked up billions of plays on streaming platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Music and Spotify through 2024.

According to the indictment, Smith was earning about $110,000 in royalties per month by June 2019. In a 2024 email, he boasted that his play count had reached 4 billion since 2019 and that his royalty earnings had hit $12 million.

Smith's attorney said in a statement that his client "deeply regrets" his actions and "is committed to accepting his punishment and making things right."


yul@heraldcorp.com