Spotify asks artists to disclose whether they’re humans or AI

Spotify is adding a new label for artist profiles created by artificial intelligence, a move aimed less at the songs themselves than at telling listeners who, or what, is behind them. The company says the new “AI Personas” tag is meant to make it clearer when an artist is a real human and when the persona is artificial.

The labels will start appearing on artist profiles in mid-September. Before that, beginning Aug. 11, artists will be able to mark themselves as AI-generated. Spotify says it will not recommend tracks from these AI Personas in suggested playlists unless listeners opt in.

The company is also planning to go after profiles it suspects are “photorealistic AI-generated identities” if they weren’t self-reported. Users can flag artists they think are AI-generated, and artists who say they were mislabeled will be able to appeal.

Spotify framed the change as a response to listener frustration. People, the company said, do not want to click into what looks like a normal artist page only to discover the persona was generated by AI. The timing also echoes last year’s Velvet Sundown episode, when a fake band drew attention after its streams took off and AI-made photos of the supposed musicians circulated.

This is part of a wider shift inside Spotify, which has already been rolling out AI-related tools such as AI Credits, a feature that lets artists disclose how they used AI in their work. But the new label is drawing a harder line: the platform says the key question is whether an artist profile represents an actual human. And on that point, Spotify wants to be the referee.