Spotify has revealed that it removed more than 75 million spam tracks from its platform over the past year as artificial intelligence-generated music continues to flood streaming services.
Speaking during a visit to Australia, Spotify's Global Head of Artists, Marketing and Policy Sam Duboff shared that the platform now receives around 100,000 new song uploads every day, with a growing number created using AI tools. To tackle the influx, Spotify has assembled a dedicated team focused on detecting and removing what Duboff described as "low-effort" AI-generated spam.
"That's the low-effort content you see where it's mass-produced, it's mass uploaded, it's AI slop... we've removed over 75 million spammy tracks in the last year," he said.
The rise of generative AI has become one of the music industry's biggest challenges, with streaming platforms balancing innovation against concerns over artist compensation, copyright, and authenticity. While some musicians have embraced AI as a creative tool, others have criticised the growing number of AI-generated songs, cloned vocals, and deepfake artists appearing online.
Spotify said the issue extends beyond uploads, noting that AI companies continue to scrape online music to train their models. Duboff added that Spotify has invested in systems designed to protect the music hosted on the platform and defend against unauthorised data collection.
Meanwhile, several major music organisations—including the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the Recording Academy—have introduced a voluntary labelling system for AI-generated and AI-assisted music.
The proposed labels distinguish between recordings created primarily by artificial intelligence and those made by human artists using AI as a creative tool. The initiative is intended for broad adoption across streaming services, giving listeners greater transparency over how music is made.
Other streaming platforms have also stepped up their AI detection efforts. Deezer recently said that AI-generated tracks now account for close to half of its daily uploads and launched an AI music detector that it claims is 99.8% accurate.
As AI-generated music becomes increasingly commonplace, streaming services, governments, and the wider music industry continue to grapple with where creativity, technology, and copyright intersect.
Like what you read? Show our writer some love!
-