Spotify will allow AI-generated music on platform unless it impersonates real artists, says CEO

Ek said use of AI in music likely to be debated for "many, many years." (AFP/File)

• There are valid uses of AI in the industry, such as tools that improved music, said Ek

LONDON: Streaming service Spotify has said it will not impose a blanket ban on its platform of all music created by artificial intelligence.

Daniel Ek, the company’s CEO, explained in a BBC interview on Monday that there were legitimate uses of AI in the music industry, including tools that improved music, such as auto-tune.

However, he stressed it was unacceptable to use AI to impersonate real artists without their consent.

Several music-streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music, in April removed songs that used AI to clone the vocals of artists Drake and The Weeknd.

Ek also cited a middle ground in which AI-created music is influenced by existing artists but does not directly impersonate them.

He said the use of generative AI to create music was likely to be the subject of debate for “many, many years.”

Asked about the challenges the music industry was facing, he added: “It is going to be tricky.”

Artists across several disciplines, including music, have been speaking out against the use of AI in the creative industries, while voicing concerns about the unpaid use of their work to train such technology.

Irish musician Hozier said last month he would consider going on strike to protest at the threat of AI, stressing in a BBC interview he was not sure the technology met the definition of art.