Spotify to label AI-generated artists and remove them from recommendations

Streaming service Spotify is introducing a new feature that will notify listeners if an artist has been created by artificial intelligence.

It says the AI Persona badge, which will start appearing on some profiles from mid-September, will flag if an "artist's identity may be AI-generated and does not represent a real person".

Spotify said in its announcement that "true artist-fan connection can only be built on a foundation of trust and authenticity.

“In music, that means listeners need to be able to trust that the artist behind the music is who they say they are.

"That's more essential than ever in the age of generative AI."

The AI persona badge will appear on Spotify's banner and about section of artist profiles, as well as identify when they come up in searches.

Artists with the badge will not appear in users' personalised recommendations unless they already follow them, Spotify says.

“Separates the people who have created music properly”

Spotify's announcement is welcome news to many.

Musician Alex Winn told BBC Newsbeat he thinks the AI Persona badge is a "really good thing".

The guitarist of the band Swindled said, “It almost separates the people who have created music properly from the people just using AI.”

Winn feels people want to "connect emotionally with music…AI can't really do that".

He added, “Bands are finding it hard to compete no matter what, nevermind with some AI bands taking over.”