Spotify has announced a new feature intended to label AI artist profiles on the platform, one of the company’s most significant moves to date as the streamer looks to offer users more transparency about AI content on the service.
“AI Personas,” as Spotify is calling the tool, will begin to roll out in mid-September, Spotify said on Tuesday, working as a badge that will appear on the mobile app on artist profiles, as well as in search and on track rows on playlists.
“Listeners have been clear in telling us that they don’t like seeing an artist profile that seems human, only to find out that the persona is AI-generated,” the company said on Tuesday. “That’s why, starting mid-September, you’ll begin to see an AI Persona badge on some artist profiles. The badge signals to listeners that an artist’s identity may be AI-generated and does not represent a real person. Alongside artist profiles that self-disclose as AI Personas, we will also start applying badges to relevant profiles.”
While the feature will roll out in September, starting today, artists have the option to disclose if their profile is an AI persona. Notably though, Spotify isn’t stopping at voluntary labeling, saying that “we hope artists will be transparent, so we are giving them the opportunity to disclose, but we won’t rely on self-disclosure alone.”
The company said it would review and label artist profiles that meet a certain number of listeners and “whose public identity” on their profile “appears to represent photorealistic AI-generated identities.” Spotify’s AI personas badge will specify whether the artist self-identified as AI or if Spotify had to review itself. Artists who Spotify labels as AI will be given an opportunity to either self-disclose or appeal the determination.
Spotify also said that users on the platform will be able to report artist profiles they believe may be AI as well, though the company didn’t give specifics on when that feature would roll out.
The badge is specific to the artist profiles themselves, Spotify said, “not about how the music was made.” This seems to mean that if a recording artist’s profile reflects who they actually are, they won’t face any required labeling on their content, even if it’s an AI-generated song. Some of the AI acts who’ve generated headlines in the past several years though, like Xania Monet or Breaking Rust, may have their profiles labeled with the AI Persona badge.
Spotify said that by default, it won’t include any artists labeled as AI Personas in its editorial or algorithmic recommendations.
“While we believe all artists have creative choice in determining how they present themselves, Spotify’s programming is focused on elevating music from authentic artists building careers in music,” Spotify said.
This isn’t Spotify’s first initiative with labeling AI content on the platform. Earlier this year, Spotify rolled out a beta on AI credits on songs, though the disclosures are dependent on if the artist chose to include the information.
Spotify’s announcement comes as the music industry overall continues to explore how to handle AI music. Some services such as Bandcamp decided to outright ban AI music on the platform. Last month, a coalition led by the RIAA and IFPI had pushed streaming services to adopt labels for songs similar to how explicit music is currently labeled. The major record labels also called on the chart organizers around the globe to disqualify AI slop tracks from being included.
