{"id":142262,"date":"2025-10-24T07:40:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/142262\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T07:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T07:40:21","slug":"spotify-exec-talks-ai-music-removing-spammy-songs-on-the-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/142262\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify Exec Talks AI Music, Removing ‘Spammy’ Songs: On the Record"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA lot is changing at Spotify. In recent weeks, the company announced its founder and CEO, Daniel Ek<\/strong>, is stepping down<\/a> from the CEO post (he will stay on Spotify\u2019s chairman); it announced plans to develop generative AI music models<\/a> with the support of the music industry; it updated its AI policies<\/a>; it finally launched lossless audio<\/a>; it updated its free tier; it forged new deals with a number of top music companies; and the company rolled out a number of new features, like direct messaging<\/a> and \u201cMix With Spotify.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe changes are a lot to keep track of, so on this week\u2019s episode of Billboard\u2019s new music business podcast, On the Record w\/ Kristin Robinson, Spotify\u2019s global head of marketing and policy, music business, Sam Duboff<\/strong>, joins to explain how the company is evolving, from a static destination for music consumption to what he calls \u201ca place where fans can experience the whole world of an artist.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tDuboff is one of the executives who determines how Spotify will handle the growing presence of AI music on its platform. He also is key in the development of Spotify for Artists, the company\u2019s hub for musicians that enables them to manage their artist profiles and connect with fans.<\/p>\n

\n\tBelow is an excerpt of Billboard\u2019s wide-ranging conversation with Duboff on this week\u2019s episode of\u00a0On the Record, focusing on its treatment of AI music on the platform. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch or listen to the full episode of\u00a0On the Record\u00a0on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts\u00a0here<\/a>, or watch it below. <\/p>\n

\n\tI wanted to hear a little bit more about the fact that y\u2019all are developing generative AI with the consent of many players in the music industry. There isn\u2019t much information out there, so what is going on?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tDuboff: We have been hearing from artists and their teams for a few years now that merging music AI tech products don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re built for them, not built for the power of their businesses, their careers, their existing fan bases. So we recently announced we\u2019re collaborating with some of our top industry partners, across major labels and indies, to collaboratively develop artist-first, responsible AI music products.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo what would that look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe want to do this in consultation with the industry. People talk to artists about it, songwriters about it, and it feels like a lot of principles about AI and music and what these should look like. It\u2019s happening in real time. So we didn\u2019t want to wait until we have a product ready for a big launch to start talking about how we\u2019re going to build AI products. We want to talk now, while we see lots of other folks in the industry are investing in the space, to be clear about our principles and how we\u2019re gonna work with the industry for any product we build. So we\u2019re looking at four key principles we outlined.<\/p>\n

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\n\tFirst, [we have forged] upfront agreements with the music industry. [We are] not using tons of music [without permission] and asking for forgiveness later. Second, we wanna make sure artists, songwriters, rights holders have agency and choice about how their music does or doesn\u2019t participate in these tools. They should have control and choice around how fans can or can\u2019t interact with the music using AI. Third, we will always have proper monetization and compensation built in. So artists, songwriters, right holders [are] always compensated for all uses of their work [and] properly credited transparently. We\u2019ll have an eye towards building new revenue streams for the music industry, so not just splitting up the existing royalty pool. We think that could be really important for powering what the next stage of the music industry looks like. Fourth, and really important to us, when we think about our role right now in music, is we want to build AI music products that deepen existing artist-fan connections. With 700 million monthly listeners coming to Spotify already, to listen to their favorite artists, we can play this really unique role where we build tools and help fans go deeper with their favorite artists and connect with their favorite artists in new ways, and make sure AI tools aren\u2019t there to kind of compete with artists or to try to replace human artistry.<\/p>\n

\n\tI know it is still very preliminary, but you talked about how this will increase the connection between fans and artists. Tell me if I\u2019m off base, but it kind of sounds more like Spotify is leaning towards AI-powered remixing of current songs, rather than a model that generates a new song from scratch, like Suno or Udio, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tYeah. I think we see our role as the biggest streaming home for professional artists today. We facilitate those connections between artists and fans through their music already. So we think we\u2019re best positioned to help have AI power this next stage of the industry. In some ways, it\u2019s just in that space of existing artists and connections and building on artists\u2019 catalogs with their consent. Yeah, not tools that are built to compete or kind of siphon off [royalties] from parts of the industry.<\/p>\n

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\n\tTo me, this signals a shift for Spotify. Spotify has always been the final destination for listening. This now feels like it\u2019s a more playful, interactive music creation tool. Do you see Spotify continuing to expand from being the place for static streaming?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tOver the past few years, we\u2019ve been evolving Spotify from a place that\u2019s just about the music to giving artists all these tools to share the world around their music. So three, four or five years ago, on Spotify, you get an artist profile with some pictures and canvases [looping visuals paired to songs]. It was mostly just about the music, and then you\u2019d have to go to social media or elsewhere to experience the artist\u2019s broader world. Where we\u2019ve been focusing is bringing in artist clips so that artists can share 30-second videos, sharing the meaning of their songs, music videos, live performance videos, which we\u2019ve launched in 100 countries outside the U.S. We\u2019re working to bring that to the U.S. [There are] countdown pages that build up your album release. You can sell your merch in advance. We\u2019re seeing artists use that in really creative ways. So we\u2019ve already been on this journey of making Spotify a place where fans can experience the whole world of an artist. These AI music principles are an extension of that philosophy.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpotify has also recently updated its policies on AI music. This included a note that the service has removed \u201c75 million spammy tracks.\u201d I\u2019ve seen some outlets post stories about this figure incorrectly, calling it 75 million AI tracks, but it feels like the word \u201cspammy\u201d is intentional, referring to both AI spam and human-made spam. Can you explain what Spotify meant by this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWe\u2019ve definitely seen modern Gen AI tools increase the scale of spam, and so certainly AI played a role in this scale. Not so long ago, there weren\u2019t even 75 million tracks on streaming services, and now, we\u2019re removing that many, but yeah, we\u2019re working to identify spam, regardless of whether AI\u2019s part of the creative process or not. <\/p>\n

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\n\tSpotify is also working with DDEX to create a standardized way to disclose exactly how AI is used in the music creation process. It feels like a step in the right direction to create a standard, but if I\u2019m a bad actor, why would I self-disclose? I probably wouldn\u2019t<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe see this as the first step. No matter what the long-term solution is going to be, of the system of incentives and deterrence that will get people to disclose, the starting point has to be shared language through the existing supply chain of music about what the formatting of that will be.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut I think you do see already a lot of artists, songwriters, producers, starting to talk about how they\u2019re using AI more often. So you see the K-Pop Demon Hunters songwriter who talked about brainstorming with Chat-GPT when he wrote \u201cSoda Pop\u201d through to Brenda Lee using AI to translate \u201cRockin\u2019 Around the Christmas Tree\u201d into Spanish, but still her voice. It was so cool, but it may have been confusing for Spanish listeners, if they thought Brenda Lee or any artist spoke a language they don\u2019t speak. Now, [with the DDEX partnership] it will be really cool for them to know transparently [exactly how AI was used.]<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Spotify came out with these policies, it did feel like a start, but I heard from some people that they felt it didn\u2019t go far enough. So, what do you say to those who feel like it\u2019s not going far enough?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s early days for AI tech. I know it feels like it\u2019s moving fast, but consumption of AI-generated music\u2019s insanely low. We have some time for artists, songwriters, producers to take the lead in figuring out how they want to use these tools. We don\u2019t want to act like we know where AI music\u2019s headed and exactly every policy and role we need to future-proof for the next two or three years. But also, we didn\u2019t just want to wait and do nothing. Some areas we all can agree now that we need to act now, no matter where AI tech heads. We think it\u2019s going to be necessary to have great systems in place to stamp out spam, deception, impersonation. So that\u2019s our starting point. We try to be upfront. We see these as first, critical early steps. There\u2019s more to come.<\/p>\n

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\n\tFrench streaming service Deezer reported recently that 28% of daily uploaded songs<\/a> are fully AI-generated. That\u2019s a shockingly high number. At Spotify, have you seen the same figures?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tAI detection tech isn\u2019t really foolproof yet. You know, every streaming service has pretty much an integral catalog. We have no reason to disbelieve it\u2019s a similar amount on any streaming service. That said, I think they shared the point that .5% of streams is all those songs were getting. We\u2019ve tried a few different tactics to test that \u2014 different detection tech, testing out different proxies \u2014 to understand how much prompt-generated music may be listened to on Spotify, and we find it is way lower than .5% in the share of streams, in total consumption. So I know sometimes it feels scary when you see those upload percentages\u2026but yeah, there\u2019s a lot of uploads [of AI music.] We\u2019re doing a lot of work to release that kind of spam, where there are mass uploads that can add up to those kinds of percentages, but keeping a close eye on the part that actually matters, which is, are listeners listening to it? Is it generating royalties?<\/p>\n

\n\tConsumption being really low makes me think that it must be a burden on streaming services to hold all of this music, especially when no one\u2019s listening to it. Would Spotify ever remove tracks that are just getting absolutely no traction?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t think so. Whether they\u2019re AI or otherwise, people upload their music to streaming services for all different reasons. I have family members that upload music to send to family and friends. That\u2019s a great thing at Spotify, [where] we are focused on emerging and professional artists. Our policies are in service of professional artists and emerging artists on their way to that. So we take on the burden of how many songs are uploaded, and certainly the overwhelming majority of songs aren\u2019t getting streamed much. I still think it\u2019s really important for there to be this open outlet.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIs this a cloud storage issue? I have no idea how big these songs are to hold onto. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tMaybe someday, with AI scale, it will be. <\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier this year, I spoke to<\/a> Spotify\u2019s global head of editorial, Sulinna Ong, and I asked her about whether or not she would ever forbid AI tracks from living on Spotify editorial playlists. She didn\u2019t have a clear answer at that moment \u2014 it wasn\u2019t a yes or a no, so I wanted to ask again. Could you ever imagine fully AI-generated tracks living on a Spotify playlist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a hard question, because I think we recognize AI music as a spectrum\u2026 I think what you\u2019re getting at is completely prompt-generated music without any human input. Is there some world where listener behavior really changes, and there\u2019s huge musical, cultural relevance from music that doesn\u2019t spam, deceive or impersonate, but somehow finds an audience, [that] could make it on to a viral hits sort of playlist? I can\u2019t speak for their team, but fundamentally, 100% of the focus of our editorial efforts is helping to identify, uplift [and] develop the careers of professional artists who are making amazing music. So it\u2019s always hard to answer that question in absolutes, but certainly that\u2019s not the focus of anyone at Spotify, or, I think, any streaming service.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lot is changing at Spotify. In recent weeks, the company announced its founder and CEO, Daniel Ek,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,20105,289,290,84231,84232,18,19,17,14353,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-142262","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-ai-music","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-billboard-green","13":"tag-billboard-on-the-record","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-spotify","18":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115428014536771294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}