Spotify Purges Tens of Thousands of AI

Spotify has purged tens of thousands of AI-generated songs as platforms struggle with where AI fits in with artistic creativity.

According to Ars Technica, Spotify confirmed it purged roughly 7% of tracks uploaded by Boomy. Boomy is a service that allows users to create AI-generated tracks based on broad descriptions. Users can then upload the tracks to streaming services to cash in on royalties.

Evidently, the tracks were not removed because they were AI-generated but because Boomy was suspected of “artificial streaming,” using bots posing as humans to artificially inflate the number of “listeners” and thereby boost a track’s popularity. Universal Music first alerted Spotify to the suspicious activity.

“Artificial streaming is a longstanding, industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to stamp out across our service,” Spotify said in a statement to Ars.

“We are always encouraged when we see our partners exercise vigilance around the monitoring or activity on their platforms,” said Michael Nash, Universal’s chief digital officer.