Spotify has removed tens of thousands of AI-generated songs. According to a report from Financial Times, they were not removed because they were produced with this technology. It is suspected that, in addition, bots were used to inflate views and earn more money.
Deleted tracks were made with boomy, an AI-powered music creation tool. The casualties would represent about 7% of the total songs generated by this platform, which has already reached more than 14 million recordings. As this startup assures in its Webare responsible for 13% of all music currently produced worldwide.
The notice gave it Universal Music Group, which has been sworn to tools like Boomy for a long time. The record company, one of the largest in the industry, had already asked Spotify and Apple in April to block services that use AI to produce songs. According to Universal, these platforms take advantage of their artists’ material, protected by copyright, to train their generative models.
Now, however, the trigger was the peak in reproductions. “When we identify or are alerted to potential instances of stream tampering, we mitigate its impact by taking action,” Spotify told Business Insider through a statement. “This allows us to protect royalty payments for honest, hard-working artists”he added. Spotify pays artists and copyright holders royalties based on stream volume.
AI already alarms Spotify and the rest of the industry
Universal welcomed Spotify removing these AI-generated tracks. “Our company is always excited when we see our partners exercise vigilance over monitoring or activity on their platforms,” Universal Music chief digital officer Michael Nash said. Financial Times.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek acknowledged in April that the music industry had “legitimate concerns” about AI-generated songs. He then promised that his company would “establish a position” that it would protect artists, but not discourage innovation on its platform.
A couple of weeks ago, a collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd that never happened went viral on social media. The name of the song Heart On My Sleeve (Heart on Sleeve) and was produced using software trained on the voices of these two artists. In a matter of days, the AI piece achieved millions of views on Tiktok and hundreds of thousands of plays on Spotify. Later, it was removed from these and other platforms.
All the waters are moving. An alliance of musicians and artists last month launched the “Human Art Campaign”, with the aim of ensuring that AI “erodes” human creativity. The group is supported by the Recording Industry Association of America, the Independent Music Association and the British Phonographic Industry.
Some dissenting voices
As Spotify puts the brakes on AI, other established artists are reaching out to it. “I am sure that the future of music is in AI”, said David Guetta, the renowned French producer, in an interview with the BBC.
Guetta asked ChatGPT to write an Eminem-esque lyric. She then used a site called uberduck.ai to imitate the voice of the American rapper. “It took me less than an hour”said the DJ, who uploaded a video of the show that he put together at one of his concerts thanks to this piece.
Guetta, however, clarified that he sees the AI as a “tool”, as was the case at the time. drum machine (electronic percussion box). “Nothing is going to replace taste,” he said. “What defines an artist is that he has a specific taste, he has a special kind of emotion that he wants to express, and he’s going to use all the modern instruments to achieve it.”