Spotify to label AI artists, drop them from recommendations

Spotify will begin flagging AI-generated performers with a new “AI Persona” badge starting in mid-September, part of a broader push to separate synthetic acts from real musicians on the platform.

The company announced the change on Tuesday, saying artists can start self-disclosing their AI-generated identities through Spotify for Artists immediately, though the visible badges themselves won’t appear until next month. Spotify said it won’t rely on artists to come forward voluntarily — the company will also use human reviewers and its own detection tools to flag profiles whose name and imagery appear to represent photorealistic AI-generated identities, starting with the most-followed accounts. 

Once flagged, the AI Persona label will show up on an artist’s profile page, in search results and on track listings inside playlists. Spotify said the badge addresses an artist’s identity, not necessarily how a given song was produced — the company already runs separate disclosure tools, AI Credits and SongDNA, for the production side.

Spotify tied the move to a broader push for authenticity, saying genuine artist-fan connections depend on listeners being able to trust that a performer is who they claim to be — a standard the company said is “more essential than ever in the age of generative AI.” Separately, Spotify said listeners have told the company they dislike discovering that a profile they assumed was human turns out to be AI-generated, and that feedback is what’s driving the badge rollout. 

By default, flagged artists will be excluded from Spotify’s personalized, editorial and algorithmic recommendations. A listener would only see an AI Persona’s music if they specifically follow the act or search for it. TechCrunch reported that artists flagged by Spotify’s own review process — rather than by self-disclosure — will be notified and given a chance to appeal the label.

The policy follows last year’s controversy over the Velvet Sundown, a purported 1970s-style rock act that racked up hundreds of thousands of monthly listeners before its own social media accounts confirmed the project was an AI creation, according to NPR. NPR also noted a Luminate industry study found listener enthusiasm for AI-generated music has been declining, particularly among younger audiences.