- The ‘Verified by Spotify’ badge will be rolling out over the next few weeks
- Certifies that the artist is real, not an AI creation
- No way to use the information to filter playlists, yet
Spotify listeners are becoming increasingly frustrated with the proliferation of AI slop in the streamer’s library. The service has taken a few steps towards addressing it, such as letting artists approve songs on their profile, but fans’ more proactive AI blockers have fallen foul of streamers’ ToS. But finally Spotify is doing something with a more solid effect.
The streaming giant has announced ‘Verified by Spotify’, a tick mark set to start appearing on artist profiles (and next to their name on playlists) over the next few months. It is similar to the verification check on other platforms, such as Instagram or X.
This badge does not explicitly mark an artist as a real person, but rather someone who follows three principles: They must have consistent activity over time (both from themselves and listeners); comply with Spotify’s policies; and have proof that they are a real person (or people).
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The latter is the clincher; evidence such as concert dates, merchandise sold, social media accounts linked to and more factors help Spotify decide if an artist is genuine.
According to the platform, “At launch, profiles that appear to primarily represent AI-generated or AI-persona artists are not eligible for verification,” later clarifying “we will continue to evolve our approach over time.” So a Verified by Spotify check hopefully means an artist is real nowbut technically it may not continue to mean that in the future, depending on how the service “evolves” its approach.
Half a goal
Music fans have been calling for filters to prevent AI music from finding its way into algorithmically generated playlists and so they can support their favorite artists without money going to AI generators. These verification options seem like a good way to implement it – I’d like to be able to tell the system to only play verified artists in these kinds of playlists – but that doesn’t seem to be an option right now, which just feels like a missed opportunity.
Instead of such changes, we need to publish advice on how to spot AI-generated music in Spotify so that you can avoid it yourself, as fans avoid some of Spotify’s main features to get away from it.
The problem is proving great for rival music streaming platforms, with Deezer seeing success with its AI detection tools and Qobuz also climbing the streaming charts. Even Apple Music is taking on AI-generated music.
In previous comments to TechRadar, Spotify has stated that it removed 75 million AI tracks in the last year, but fans’ continued annoyance at the proliferation of slop shows that there really is more to be done.
And while the Verified by Spotify tag might help in some ways, it won’t actively influence the kinds of tunes that appear in your playlists—at least not yet. But as a first step to help users take control, this is solid.
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