Spotify Removes Tens of Thousands of A.I. Generated Songs

UPDATE (May 10):

Alex Mitchell, founder and CEO of Boomy, has released the following statement to XXL about Spotify‘s removal of thousands of songs created by users on Boomy’s service.

“Supporting artists and creators who use the Boomy platform is our top priority,” the statement reads. “Boomy is categorically against any type of manipulation or artificial streaming, and we are working with industry partners to address this issue. Importantly, the curated delivery to Spotify of new releases by Boomy artists has been re-enabled.”

ORIGINAL STORY (May 10):

Spotify is taking action against the current onslaught of A.I.-generated songs by reportedly removing a bunch of computer-generated tracks from its platform.

The popular streaming platform has taken down tens of thousands of artificial intelligence songs created using start-up A.I. song creator company Boomy, XXL confirmed with a rep for Spotify on Wednesday (May 10). This reportedly equates to seven percent of the songs posted on the platform created by the service, which launched in 2019. The songs were removed flagged and removed not specifically for use of A.I. but for “artificial streaming”—a tactic that utilizes online bots to boost the audience numbers for particular songs.

“Artificial streaming is a longstanding, industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to stamp out across our service,” a rep for Spotify tells XXL about the move. “When we identify or are alerted to potential cases of stream manipulation, we mitigate their impact by taking action that may include the removal of streaming numbers and the withholding of royalties. This allows us to protect royalty payouts for honest, hardworking artists.”

XXL has reached out to Boomy for comment.

The trend of A.I.-generated songs is taking over the music industry, with faux tracks popping up everyday from some of your favorite artists, some of whom are no longer with us. Music conglomerate Universal Music Group is trying to get ahead of the trend. They have successfully petitioned to get numerous A.I.-generated songs from their artists removed from streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube.

The A.I. song takeover has sparked a debate as to whether it’s a good or bad thing for the music industry.

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