- Spotify has posted AI-generated songs on the profiles of deceased artists without permission from their heirs or record labels.
- The most prominent case concerns singer-songwriter Blaze Foley, whose profile received a fictitious release titled “Together.”
- The platform removed the songs after being warned, but the controversy calls into question its oversight and verification measures.
- SoundOn, the TikTok distributor, and the lack of systems to verify the authenticity of releases are at the center of the debate.
The world of streaming music has been shaken by a Controversy surrounding Spotify and the unexpected appearance of AI-generated songs on the profiles of deceased artistsThe situation has raised alarm bells both in the music industry and among fans, as these publications have been made without the consent or authorization of the heirs or official record labels, which raises serious ethical and legal questions about the use of artificial intelligence and catalog management in the digital environment.
El trigger of this controversy took place with the publication of the song “Together” on the account of Blaze Foley, a renowned American country singer who was murdered in 1989The song, which mimicked the usual characteristics of a current release (instrumentation, style, and even an artificially generated cover), soon It was identified by fans and experts as being alien to the artist's genuine sound..
The image and voice presented features noticeably different from those of Foley, which led the owner of the record label Lost Art Records, Craig McDonald, publicly stating that the piece was not at all linked to Foley's legacy.
A poorly controlled distribution system
The situation was initially discovered thanks to McDonald's wife, who was surprised when exploring the artist's page noticed the presence of a song never before managed by the record company. In the absence of a response from the official distributor, Secretly Distribution, the next step was to contact direct contact with Spotify.
from the platform They acknowledged the mistake and proceeded to delete the song., indicating as responsible for the publication SoundOn –a digital distribution company owned by TikTok that allows users to share music on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and others.
Spotify said the track violated its deceptive content policies.These include prohibitions on impersonation and the unauthorized publication of material that imitates artists. "This is not allowed, and we take action against those who repeatedly violate these rules, including expelling distributors," an official spokesperson stated.
A phenomenon that goes beyond an isolated case
The subsequent investigation revealed that This is not an isolated incident. In the Spotify catalog appeared Other AI-generated songs illegitimately attributed to musicians like Guy Clark, who died in 2016, with the same copyright signature "Syntax Error" and artificial cover art. Similar tracks were even detected relating to other names, such as Dan Berk, and the company Reality Defender confirmed that all of them showed clear signs of having been composed using artificial intelligence.
The pattern repeats itself: Musical pieces lacking the essence of the real artist, distributed without prior verification or explicit control. Famous has been el The Velvet Sundown case, a fictional group (which you can see in the image above) that has succeeded on the platform despite not existing.
There is no doubt that these situations show that The phenomenon of artificial music is far from being anecdotal and poses unprecedented challenges for creators, platforms, distributors and listeners
Criticism and calls for greater regulation
Various voices from the music industry and the affected record labels themselves have been sharp in their criticism. McDonald stresses that the reputation and legacy of artists like Foley could be seriously affected.. He demands that no track be published on an artist's official website without the express authorization of the legitimate managers, asking Spotify for more rigorous mechanisms.
The issue has reopened the debate on the progress of the artificial intelligence in musical creation and dissemination, and the risk of impersonation on global platforms. While Spotify doesn't directly ban AI-created music, it does set limits when it involves impersonating a musician or misleading the public.
The role of SoundOn and release monitoring
One of the focuses of the debate is on the role of SoundOn, owned by TikTok, which It facilitates the mass distribution of songs and opens the door to possible fraud if submissions are not verified correctly.The platform has come under scrutiny for its potential to distribute automatically generated songs on behalf of third parties without the necessary authenticity checks.
Spotify insists that will strengthen measures to identify and remove misleading content, but experience has shown that their current systems may be insufficient, especially when faced with the speed and sophistication of AI-based tools.
The use of artificial intelligence to create and publish songs under the identity of absent artists raises ethical, legal and technological questions that the music industry and streaming platforms must address as soon as possible to preserve authenticity and respect for cultural memory.
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