Imagine scrolling through a Spotify playlist and stumbling upon a catchy tune. You click on the artist's profile, eager to discover more about this new favorite, only to find... nothing. No social media, no concerts, no backstory. Just a generic profile picture and a handful of eerily similar tracks. Welcome to the world of fake AI artists on Spotify, a growing problem that threatens to undermine the very essence of artistic integrity.
The issue first came to light in 2016, when Music Business Worldwide published an article addressing fake artists on Spotify. It exposed the presence of music released by mysterious, pseudonymous artists who had no discernible online presence beyond their Spotify profiles. The article raised early concerns about the authenticity of some content on the platform and set the stage for ongoing scrutiny of Spotify's practices regarding artist verification and promotion.
In 2022, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published an exposé that reignited concerns about fake artists on Spotify. The investigation revealed a network of pseudonymous musicians linked to Firefly Entertainment, a Swedish indie label, identifying 830 fake artist names, with 495 of them featured on Spotify's playlists. Over 500 of these fake artists were created by just 20 songwriters, according to the Swedish publishing body STIM. One composer was responsible for songs attributed to 62 fake artists, garnering 7.7 million monthly listeners.
Dagens Nyheter noted potential conflicts of interest, as Firefly's management reportedly had close ties to someone at Spotify. This connection, along with the frequent placement of Firefly's music on key playlists, sparked concerns about playlist curation and its effects on royalty payments.
Spotify's CEO Daniel Ek stated in a 2023 BBC interview that while there are legitimate uses for AI in music production, “the technology should not be used to impersonate artists without their consent.” Ek outlined three categories of AI use in music: acceptable tools like auto-tune, unacceptable artist impersonation, and a gray area where AI-created music is influenced by existing artists without direct copying.
Despite this stance, reports of fake AI artists persisting on Spotify emerged again in June 2024. It started with X (formerly Twitter) user Trevor Foley voicing his frustration over Spotify's "adding a bunch of AI country bands with covers of huge songs, bands with no social media links, and millions of streams, and then putting them on playlists."
His post quickly gained traction, with other users sharing similar experiences and concerns about fake artists on Spotify. This wave of complaints was later covered in an article by WhiskeyRiff, highlighting the ongoing struggle to maintain authenticity on the platform.
They've been putting out fake jazz for YEARS. If AI can only draw from existing material, labels own that material+ a big stake in Spotify, it's a money machine with no artists to even pay. Thing is, lots of ppl don't care cuz they're not ACTIVELY listening anyway - muzak
— Tami(ka) Ganolvsgi Agasgi Koga Lance (@StormcrowTami) July 20, 2024
Fake AI artists are stealing the spotlight – and more importantly, the money – from real, flesh-and-blood musicians. Spotify divvies up its payouts based on total streams, so when fake artists rack up millions of bot-driven plays, they're essentially picking the pockets of genuine artists trying to make a living.
But it's not just about the money. This flood of fake music raises some pretty heavy questions about the future of music creation and consumption. Should Spotify and other streaming platforms be more upfront about which tracks are human-made and which are AI-generated? And how long before we can't tell the difference anymore?
While Instagram makes a backfired effort to label AI-generated content on its platform, Spotify and other streaming services don’t go out of their way to even attempt to mark potentially fake artists and AI-generated music. For listeners who want to ensure they're supporting genuine artists, there are ways to spot the fakes.
This was from about 2 minutes of looking into it. There’s probably even more. No links to social media either. Shits wild pic.twitter.com/cNxUurSD97
— Trevor Foley (@tevordoley22) July 18, 2024
The Signs You’ve Found a Fake AI Artist on Spotify
- Generic or AI-generated profile images. Many fake AI artists use stock photos or AI-generated images as their profile pictures. These often look generic or slightly off.
- Repetitive or similar song titles. AI-generated tracks may have titles that follow similar patterns or seem nonsensical.
- Identical song lengths. In some cases, AI-generated tracks from different "artists" may have the exact same duration.
- Lack of online presence. Legitimate artists typically have some form of online presence beyond Spotify. Fake AI artists often lack social media accounts, websites, or any other online footprint.
- Unusually high listener counts. Some fake AI artists accumulate suspiciously high numbers of monthly listeners despite having no real fanbase or promotion.
- Feature in algorithmic playlists. Fake AI tracks often show up in mood-based or activity-specific playlists like "classical music for babies" or "sleep sounds."
- Nonsensical or computer-generated lyrics. If present, lyrics may be disjointed or lack coherence, indicating AI generation.
- Uniform album artwork. Fake AI artists often use similar templates for album covers with very few variations.
- Rapid release of content. AI can generate music much faster than humans, so an unusually high volume of releases in a short time may be suspicious.
What's more, if you listen to multiple artists and notice that they have a very similar sound, it may also be a sign that these artists are fake and that their music was generated by the same AI system.
Addressing this issue as a whole will require a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders. Streaming platforms like Spotify need to implement stricter verification processes for new artists and improve their algorithms to better identify and filter out fake streams. There's also a pressing need for greater transparency, with platforms and labels disclosing when a track is AI-generated.
Legal and regulatory measures may also be necessary. Governments and industry bodies should implement regulations to address the issue of fake AI artists, potentially including penalties for platforms that fail to take adequate measures to combat fake streams.
We will continue to follow the way music streaming giants handle the sensitive AI issue, subscribe to the Kill the DJ newsletter to stay in the know.
