Spotify Removed Over 50 Million AI Junk and Spam Songs from Recommendations in One Year
Spotify announced that over the past year it removed more than 50 million songs deemed AI-generated junk content or spam from user recommendations, and adjusted its recommendation system to show more music from human artists. Spotify said its editors likewise will not program content identified as junk or spam, and after the changes, listeners' concerns about such content appearing in recommendations dropped noticeably. Spotify has not yet mandated labeling for all AI tracks, but it introduced an AI Persona badge for artists that use an AI identity and do not represent real people, and it does not recommend music from AI personas; YouTube Music adds labels to AI songs, Deezer allows users to filter AI junk content, and Bandcamp bans AI music entirely.
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The original article compares how Spotify, YouTube Music, Deezer, and Bandcamp handle AI music differently, revealing a divergence in platform governance approaches.
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Spotify says it has removed more than 50 million songs considered AI-generated slop or spam from user recommendations over the past year. That’s according to an announcement on Tuesday that says Spotify has also made changes to its recommendation system to highlight more music made by human artists.
“Our editors hold the same standard and don’t program content identified as slop or spam,” Spotify says. “Since we made these changes, we’ve seen a marked decrease in listener concerns about this content showing up in recommendations.”
Though Spotify has stopped short of mandating labels on all AI tracks, it launched an “AI Persona” badge for artists that use an AI identity and don’t represent a real person. It also won’t recommend music from AI personas. Other music streaming platforms are taking a tougher stance on AI music, with YouTube Music putting labels on AI songs, Deezer giving users an option to filter out AI slop, and Bandcamp banning AI music entirely .
Spotify says it uses a combination of listener engagement and feedback, upload patterns, metadata, and third-party AI detection tools to determine whether a track may be AI-generated slop. Last year, the company said it took down more than 75 million songs identified as spam . It’s also partnering with Universal Music Group and the independent music publisher Believe to launch a tool for creating AI music remixes .