Spotify Will Not Ban AI-made Music

Illustration of SPotify (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Spotify has no plans to ban AI-generated content (artificial intelligence) from their platform, according to boss Daniel Ek.

Earlier this year, the fake collaboration between Drake and The Weeknd was removed from streaming services as well as other sites such as Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube.

The song titled Heart On My Sleeve reportedly produced 20 million streams in total in less than 48 hours.

Meanwhile, in a new interview with BBC News, Ek claimed there was a valid use of artificial intelligence in making music.

However, he said the technology should not be used to emulate original artists without their consent as happened in a false and illegitimate partnership between Drake and The Weeknd.

Ek said that the technique of using AI in music will likely be debated for years to come, and explains that he believes there are three groups' of AI use:

1. Tools like automatic tuning to perfect music, which he says are acceptable.

2. A tool that imitates human artists, even though according to him it is not.

3. A more controversial middle ground where AI's music is clearly influenced by existing artists, but does not directly imitate their identities.

When asked about the challenges facing the industry in regulating the use of artificial intelligence, said Ek.

"It's going to be complicated," he said.

You can imagine someone uploading a song, claiming to be Madonna, when it really isn't. We've seen almost everything in Spotify's current history with people trying to play with our system."

We have a very large team that handles problems like this.

AI is not banned in all forms on Spotify, but the platform does not currently allow its content to be used to train AI machines or models, which can then generate music.