AI Impersonates Musicians on Spotify, Sparking Concerns Over Identity and Royalties

Jason Moran, a renowned jazz composer and pianist, recently received a call from his friend and bassist Burniss Earl Travis, who had stumbled upon an album on Spotify that bore Moran's name but didn't sound like his music. This incident led Moran to investigate further, and he found an artist profile on Spotify with his name, featuring albums from his former label, Blue Note Records.

Upon listening to the new EP titled For You, Moran was surprised to find that it was indie pop music with no piano player, which was vastly different from his own style. He then set out to get the fake album taken down, only to discover that he was not alone in this experience. Several other famous jazz musicians, indie rock artists, and even the rapper Drake have been targeted by AI bots masquerading as the real artists on music streaming platforms.

Spotify's Response

Spotify has acknowledged the problem and has taken steps to address it, including removing over 75 million "spammy tracks" from its platform in the past year. The company has also introduced stronger rules around impersonation and is working on a new tool to give artists more control over their profiles.

A Spotify spokesperson stated that the company employs various safeguards to protect artists, including systems designed to detect and prevent unauthorized content, human review, and reporting and takedown processes. However, Moran believes that these measures are not enough, particularly since AI content is not always internally flagged, and the problem does not seem to be slowing down.

Concerns Over Artist Identity and Royalties

Moran is concerned about the additional work that artists like himself, who do not use Spotify, will have to do to protect their identities. He also worries about musicians who are no longer alive, as they have no way of verifying or objecting to fake records released under their names.

The issue of AI impersonation on music streaming platforms is not limited to Spotify. According to Morgan Hayduk, a co-CEO of Beatdapp, which offers fraud detection for music streaming, the problem occurs on other platforms like Apple Music and YouTube as well. Hayduk estimates that 5% to 10% of all streams across the industry are fraudulent, resulting in a loss of $1 billion to $2 billion per year for legitimate artists.

Adam Berkowitz, a PhD candidate studying AI and copyright law in the music industry, notes that it can be challenging for streaming services to automatically remove albums over possible copyright or impersonation issues. He believes that the onus will likely remain on artists to police their profiles and protect their identities.

Moran, who only uploads his music to Bandcamp, values the control and agency that the platform provides. As an independent artist, he prioritizes creating art and providing it to people over making money from record sales.