Spotify says it removed more than 75 million spam tracks from its platform over the past 12 months as it steps up efforts to tackle AI-driven music fraud, fake streaming and unauthorised voice cloning.
The streaming giant stressed that the crackdown is not aimed at AI-generated music itself, but at low-quality, mass-produced uploads designed to manipulate recommendation algorithms, occupy playlist space and divert royalty payments away from legitimate artists.
The announcement comes as AI-generated music continues to flood streaming services. Around 100,000 new tracks are uploaded to Spotify every day, while rival platform Deezer recently revealed that AI-generated songs account for roughly 44% of its daily uploads, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing the industry.
Spotify targets AI spam, not AI creativity
Spotify says there is a clear distinction between artists using AI as part of the creative process and those exploiting the technology to game the platform.
The company is targeting what has become known across the industry as “AI slop”, large volumes of automatically generated music uploaded with little creative input and often supported by artificial streaming activity.
Instead of banning AI-created music, Spotify says it continues to welcome creators who use AI tools responsibly, provided they own the necessary rights and comply with the platform’s policies.
New measures aim to protect artists and royalties
As part of the latest enforcement push, Spotify has introduced additional safeguards designed to reduce fraud and improve transparency.
The platform says it is now strengthening detection systems to identify:
- Mass-uploaded duplicate content
- Artificial streaming activity
- Unauthorised AI voice impersonations
- Extremely short tracks created to exploit royalty payments
- Suspicious upload patterns linked to spam operations
Spotify is also supporting new metadata standards that allow labels and distributors to disclose whether music was created using AI or simply assisted by AI during production.
The company believes greater transparency will help listeners understand how music is made while allowing legitimate artists to continue experimenting with new technology.
AI music continues to divide the industry
The rapid growth of generative AI has sparked an increasingly heated debate across the music business.
Record industry organisations, including the IFPI and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), have backed voluntary labelling initiatives that would identify tracks as AI-generated or AI-assisted.
In a joint statement, IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley and RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said:
“Fans want to know whether and how generative AI has been used in the music to which they listen. Given how important human artistry and authenticity is to music lovers all over the world, these labels will provide an immediately understandable and easily scalable approach to transparency.”
Some AI developers and musicians have argued that mandatory labelling could unfairly stigmatise artists who use AI as a legitimate creative tool, while others believe greater disclosure is essential for maintaining trust between artists, streaming platforms and listeners.
Spotify’s challenge is only getting bigger
Spotify has previously removed AI-generated music linked to artificial streaming networks, including a high-profile purge of uploads associated with music creation platform Boomy in 2023.
However, as generative AI tools become faster, cheaper and more accessible, streaming services are facing an unprecedented volume of new content.
The latest removal of more than 75 million spam tracks underlines the scale of that challenge. While AI-assisted music remains welcome on Spotify, the company says its priority is ensuring genuine artists are not disadvantaged by fraudulent uploads designed to exploit the platform’s recommendation and royalty systems.
