Survey: 97% Listeners Can't Distinguish Music Made By AI And Humans

Illustration of AI music concerts. (photo: x @BGNES)

JAKARTA - A total of 97% of listeners cannot distinguish between songs created by artificial intelligence (AI) and songs compiled by humans. This was revealed according to the results of Deezer's latest survey of Ipsos released Wednesday 12 November. These findings highlight the growing concern that AI can change the way music is created, consumed, and monetized.

A survey conducted by Ipsos of 9,000 respondents in eight countries, including the United States, Britain, and France, showed ethical concerns in the music industry. AI technology that is able to create songs from scratch raises copyright issues and threats to musicians' livelihoods.

The Deezer music platform, which is a partner in this research, said that the majority of listeners wanted a clear label for AI-made music. A total of 73% of respondents supported the signing when the AI song was recommended, 45% wanted a special screening feature, and 40% said they would pass AI-made songs if they appeared on their playlists. Interestingly, 71% of respondents said they were surprised because they were unable to distinguish human-made music from synthetic music.

Deezer, which has 9.7 million subscribers, reports that its AI music posts now account for more than 50,000 songs per day about a third of the total upload, up sharply from 18% in April 2025.

The company is now implementing a labeling system and is releasing AI-made songs from editorial playlists as well as algorithmic recommendations to maintain transparency. "We firmly believe that true creativity comes from humans, and they must be protected," said Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier.

Lanternier also highlighted the challenges of implementing a different royalty payment system for AI music, calling the massive policy change "not easy." Deezer also began to exclude fake stream' from royalty payment calculations.

The issue of AI's music is increasingly being discussed after the Velvet Sundown, an AI-based virtual band, won more than a million listeners on Spotify before it was finally revealed as an engine-made project.

Meanwhile, Universal Music Group (UMG) recently settled a copyright dispute with music company AI Udio. Both parties plan to launch an AI-powered music creation platform in 2026, using licensed music as training material.

Dalam perkembangan lain, pengadilan di Munich memutuskan bahwa ChatGPT milik OpenAI melanggar hukum haktrematis Jerman karena mereproduksi lirik lagu tanpa izin keputusan yang disebut perusahaan itu mungkin akan diajukan pengadahan.

Meanwhile, public attitudes towards AI in the media are still diverse. A survey by Luminate in May 2025 found that the majority of viewers in the US accepted the use of AI in film visual effects, but were skeptical of synthetic scripts and actors.