Spotify to Introduce 'AI Persona' Badges to Non-Human Artists

As AI-generated music becomes harder to separate from the human-made variety, Spotify is taking aim at the trend.

The streaming giant announced Tuesday that it will begin rolling out an AI persona badge in mid-September, identifying artist profiles who appear to be generated by AI. The label will show up on artist pages, in search results and alongside tracks in playlists, giving listeners a clearer indication of who, or what, is supposedly behind the music.

This first step is mostly to give listeners control over what they listen to. An AI-generated song is one thing, but discovering that the artist attached to it does not actually exist as presented can make the entire listening experience feel deceptive.

Artists will be able to voluntarily identify themselves as AI Personas through the Spotify for Artists portal. Spotify will also conduct its own reviews, first focusing on profiles that have reached certain audience thresholds. If the platform determines that an artists' profiles appear to be 'photorealistic AI-generated identities', it can apply the badge itself. Artists will then have the opportunity to disclose their status or appeal the decision.

The notable thing, though, is that the badge does not indicate that a song was made with AI. It specifically concerns the identity being presented as the artist. Spotify already has AI Credits for creators who want to disclose how artificial intelligence was used during the making of their music.

The good news, however, is that by default, Spotify says AI Personas will be excluded from its editorial and algorithmic recommendations. They can still be found and streamed, particularly by listeners who actively follow them, but they will not receive the same automatic push toward new audiences.