Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform, has removed more than 50 million low-quality tracks mass-produced by artificial intelligence from its recommendation lists. The move comes as concerns grow that the rapid spread of AI-generated music is squeezing out human creators and exposing listeners to songs they did not want to hear.
Spotify announced the measures to filter out low-quality AI-generated music in a blog post on the 20th. The company described some AI tracks as "slop and spam," saying such music no longer deserves a place on its lists. It said it had upgraded related systems to protect the listening experience.
According to NBC and other U.S. broadcasters, Spotify has removed more than 50 million tracks believed to be AI-generated from its recommendation lists this year. Last year, it also removed 75 million tracks that had seriously or repeatedly violated its rules. The measures are designed to block the unauthorized copying of existing creators' content and the artificial mass production of tracks.
Spotify also analyzed listener behavior. Reviewing songs that users repeatedly skipped or ignored over the past six months, the company found similar patterns among low-quality tracks churned out by AI. It said it fed those findings into metadata and AI detection tools to adjust recommendation lists and reduce how often such tracks reach listeners.
The company acknowledged, however, that it is difficult to screen out AI tracks completely. As generative AI technology advances, identifying deceptive content — music that imitates existing songs or impersonates other artists — is becoming increasingly challenging.
Do Human Creators Earn Less as AI Tracks Multiply?
Behind the rise of AI music as an industry-wide problem is the way revenue is divided. Spotify distributes payouts based partly on each creator's share of total streams. If AI-generated tracks circulate in large volumes and rack up plays, critics warn, the share of revenue flowing to human creators could shrink.
To collect royalties on Spotify, an individual song must meet a minimum threshold. A track must be played at least 1,000 times over 12 months to qualify for revenue sharing. That is why some argue that the faster AI-generated tracks multiply, the harder it becomes for existing creators to secure income.
Rather than banning AI outright, Spotify is requiring disclosure of whether AI was used in the creative process and filtering out deceptive content. Earlier this year, it introduced an "AI disclosure" feature that lets creators indicate whether they used AI in making a track. It also began attaching an "AI persona" label to accounts that post tracks suspected of being AI-generated and excluding them from recommendation lists.
An AI Song Reached No. 3 on Melon, but Korean Platforms Lack Labeling Rules
AI music is also gaining ground in South Korea's music market. According to Melon, the AI-generated track "Did You Become the Grown-Up You Dreamed Of?" ranked No. 3 on the platform's Top 100 chart as of 1 p.m. on the 20th. It placed fourth on the weekly chart for the 12th through the 18th, a sharp rise from No. 93 on September's monthly chart.
Released in June, the song compares the adult one dreamed of becoming as a child with one's actual self. The vocals were not sung by a person but produced using Suno, a generative music AI service. In the Melon album notes, the act behind the song, Mumureuneun, described AI as a modern instrument and a creative partner, saying it handled the planning, lyrics and overall production direction itself.