We’ve written a lot about how AI is coming for your job. Now AI is coming for your music, flooding streaming platforms with “AI music slop.” But instead of curbing it, Spotify’s CEO Alex Norström is doubling down and embracing AI-generated music—claiming it offers artists protection from piracy, and music-lovers more freedom to listen to and create more of the kind of music they want.
Last week, Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced landmark licensing agreements, paving the way for Spotify to launch a new tool for premium subscribers. The tool enables them to create AI-generated song covers and remixes of their favorite songs from participating artists and songwriters on the platform.
The deal has prompted two very different reactions. On Wall Street, the move sent shares of the stock up 16% last week, per the Financial Times. (On Tuesday, shares of Spotify Technology SA (NYSE: SPOT) were up nearly 2% in midday trading at the time of this writing.)
However, the move also prompted swift backlash from recording artists and music fans alike.
“I quit Spotify after many many years because of their attempts to integrate AI into music,” one Reddit user responded. “At this rate, Spotify won’t just be a streaming platform anymore,” another quipped.
Norström has defended the move as a “rewarding outcome for artists and songwriters” that will compensate musicians, arguing Spotify is offering a “controlled” alternative for musicians to make money, instead of having their work ripped off. Critics, however, are wary.
“I think if you are going to have AI music, it’s clearly better that you have AI music that is rooted in consent,” composer Ed Newton-Rex, who campaigns to protect creators’ copyrights, told The Guardian. “[However] the big question will be whether fans can share remixes they make for other people to listen to. If they can, I think you get into dangerous territory. These AI remixes will flood Spotify and drown out other songs, which will in turn put pressure on more musicians to sign up to the AI remix feature.”
The bottom line, Newton-Rex said, is that this could end up making it even harder for musicians, who now would have to compete with AI-generated work.
And that fear is already being realized. Three different AI-generated songs have already broken into the top of Spotify’s “Viral 50” charts. Heard that new band The Velvet Sundown on Spotify? Sorry to tell you, but that’s AI-generated.
According to a 2025 study from Deezer, a global streaming app, some 50,000 AI-generated songs are uploaded daily to its platform, with 97% of respondents unable to discern whether or not the tracks were fully AI-generated.