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Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI
Spotify is introducing a 'Verified' badge to help users identify when artists on its platform are human, not AI-generated.
The world's most-used music streaming service said the 'Verified by Spotify' text and green checkmark icon would appear next to artist names when they meet "defined standards demonstrating authenticity".
This could include having linked social accounts on their artist profile, consistent listener activity or other "signals of a real artist behind the profile," the company said, such as merchandise or concert dates.
In its blog post, Spotify said "more than 99%" of the artists listeners actively search for will be verified, representing "hundreds of thousands of artists".
It said the process would prioritise acts with "important contributions to music culture and history", rather than "content farms," with the platform rolling out verification and badges over the coming weeks.
With Spotify targeting AI-generated music and personas, some on social media have pointed out a verified account would only prove an artist was human, not that the music was made without utilising AI.
Ed Newton-Rex, a campaigner for creators' rights and former AI executive, said Spotify's approach could "punish real human artists who don't have some of the markers the verification is based on," like touring or selling merchandise.
Instead, he suggests Spotify could be "automatically labelling any AI-generated music" as some other streaming services do.
Professor of Music at the University of Durham Nick Collins said Spotify's decision was "unsurprising" given the "ongoing furore around generative AI" but added it would be a trickier task if it ever tried to label the music itself.
"AI usage is not a binary position between 'entirely authentically handmade' and 'fully AI generated' but can have lots of in-between cases," he said.
"We can probably welcome some sort of tagging system like this, though it may favour the more commercial and successful artists already active rather than new independent artists."
Spotify's AI problem
Spotify has come under fire in recent years for its approach to AI-generated content on its site.
One Leipzig-based software developer built his own tool to label and block AI music on the platform.
Posts by users in its community forums have frequently requested a "clear label for AI-generated songs" or for the site to "explain why subscribers should pay full price while the platform fills up with AI-generated music".
In 2023, the then chief executive of Spotify Daniel Ek told the BBC he had no plans to completely ban content created by artificial intelligence from the platform.