Spotify has announced it is teaming up with the world’s biggest music companies to develop “responsible” artificial intelligence products that respect artists’ copyright.
The market-leading music streamer is collaborating with the Sony, Universal and Warner music groups – whose combined rosters feature artists including Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift – to create new AI features.
Spotify did not give details of what the new products would entail, but the company said artists would not be forced to participate, and their copyright would not be violated.
In a blogpost announcing the agreement, Spotify referred pointedly to a move-fast-and-break-things approach to copyright in some parts of the tech industry. The tension between the music industry and some tech firms has already led to three major labels suing AI companies whose tools create music from user prompts.
“Some voices in the tech industry believe copyright should be abolished,” said Spotify. “We don’t. Musicians’ rights matter. Copyright is essential. If the music industry doesn’t lead in this moment, AI-powered innovation will happen elsewhere, without rights, consent, or compensation.”
The issue of copyright – a legal right that prevents others from using your work without permission – has become a battleground between the creative industries and the tech sector, which has been using publicly available, copyright-protected data to build artificial intelligence tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
The three music majors are suing two AI music startups, Udio and Suno, for alleged copyright infringement, amid similar lawsuits in other areas of the media and creative world. Both Udio and Suno have said their technology is designed to generate new musical output and does not reproduce specific artists’ work.
The head of Universal Music Group, Sir Lucian Grainge, wrote in a memo to staff this week that Universal would seek an artist’s consent before licensing use of their voice or existing songs to an AI company.
One of the most notorious musical deepfakes was published in 2023. Heart on My Sleeve, a song featuring AI-made vocals purporting to be Drake and the Weeknd, was pulled from streaming services after Universal, which represented both artists, criticised the song for “infringing content created with generative AI”.
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Spotify, which has 276 million paying subscribers, said it had begun building a state-of-the-art generative AI research lab to create “breakthrough experiences” for fans and artists. The Stockholm-based company said the products would create new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, ensuring they are “properly compensated for uses of their work and transparently credited for their contributions”.
Spotify is also partnering with Merlin, a digital rights company for independent record labels, and Believe, a French digital music label, as part of the AI collaboration. Spotify already uses AI to create playlists and a personalised DJ.
The heads of the three majors welcomed the agreement, with the chair of Sony Music Group, Rob Stringer, saying that there must “direct licensing” of artists’ work before a new product is launched. Universal’s Grainge said he wanted a “thriving commercial landscape” in which the music industry and tech companies could flourish. The head of Warner Music Group, Robert Kyncl, expressed approval for Spotify’s “thoughtful AI guardrails”.
