Why Spotify is Partnering With Labels for AI Music Products

The music industry has spent the past two years wrestling with AI, watching as tech companies hoover up copyrighted recordings to train their systems without asking permission. 

Now Spotify, the Swedish streaming giant with more than 600 million users, is taking a different approach by striking deals directly with the three major record labels, saying it wants to make AI tools which “put artists and songwriters first” and respect their copyright. 

The partnerships with Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group will see Spotify license music to build these products. 

Music rights organisation Merlin and digital distributor Believe have also joined the arrangement, bringing together companies that represent the lion’s share of commercially released music worldwide.

Spotify has already started building its first products, saying that it recognises there is a “wide range of views on use of generative music tools within the artistic community” and plans to allow artists to choose whether they want to participate.

Behind the major labels striking licensing deals with Spotify

Musicians from Dua Lipa to Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney have been increasingly vocal about AI firms training Gen AI models on their work without payment or permission.

Gen AI is the key to AI music as it creates new content by learning patterns from training data – now it has triggered legal fights across creative industries.

Spotify says it will make sure artists, songwriters and rights holders are “properly compensated for uses of their work and transparently credited for their contributions”. 

These arrangements will come through “upfront agreements” and not “asking for forgiveness later”. 

“Technology should always serve artists, not the other way around,” says Alex Norstrom, Co-president at Spotify.

“Our focus at Spotify is making sure innovation supports artists by protecting their rights, respecting their creative choices – and creating new ways for fans to discover and enjoy the music they love.”

But not everyone is convinced this marks progress. 

Max Bonanno, Managing Partner at New Orleans artist management firm MidCitizen Entertainment, told the BBC that AI has “polluted the creative ecosystem.”

He says AI-generated songs have “diluted the already limited share of revenue that artists receive from streaming royalties”.

The future of the permission-based model

Ed Newton-Rex sees things differently. The founder of Fairly Trained, which pushes for ethical AI development, says: “Lots of the AI industry is exploitative – AI built on people’s work without permission, served up to users who get no say in the matter,” he tells the BBC.

“This is different – AI features built fairly, with artists’ permission, presented to fans as a voluntary add-on rather than an inescapable funnel of AI slop. 

“The devil will be in the detail, but it looks like a move towards a more ethical AI industry, which is sorely needed.”

So far, Spotify has always maintained it does not create music itself, using AI or otherwise. 

The platform does however use the technology to build personalised playlists and run features like its AI DJ. 

It hosts music created with AI tools but recently announced it was cracking down on artists who did not disclose the use of AI or who used it to impersonate real artists.

The company also points out that AI is now used in many stages of the songwriting process, including autotune, mixing and mastering. 

“We’ve been consistently focused on making sure AI works for artists and songwriters, not against them,” says Robert Kyncl, CEO at Warner Music Group. 

“That means collaborating with partners who understand the necessity for new AI licensing deals that protect and compensate rightsholders and the creative community.”

Gustav Söderström, Co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at Spotify says: “AI is the most consequential technology shift since the smartphone and it’s already reshaping how music is created and experienced. 

“At Spotify, we want to build this future hand in hand with the music industry, guided by clear principles and deep respect for creators, just as we did in the days of piracy.”