Spotify tags AI-generated artists and removes them from default recommendations

Spotify announced this week that, starting in mid-September, it will attach an “AI Persona” label to artist profiles whose identity was created by artificial intelligence and will block their music from appearing in the platform’s editorial and algorithmic recommendation sections. The move follows the company’s initial AI policy launched a year earlier and is intended to address the growing flood of low-quality content that the industry calls “slop,” which AI can produce at massive scale.

The label will appear on the profile banner, in the About section, in search results and alongside tracks in playlists. Spotify will not rely solely on self-declaration; it will scan profiles that meet predefined audience thresholds and flag those whose name and imagery resemble photorealistic identities generated by AI. Artists can declare themselves as an “AI Persona” from 11 August via Spotify for Artists, and anyone who believes they have been mis-tagged can appeal. Later this year the company plans to launch a reporting tool for users to flag suspect profiles that have not yet been labeled.

A central point of the announcement is the separation Spotify draws between an artist’s identity and the method used to create the music. “The question of whether a profile represents a real human is where Spotify can make a clear determination,” the company said. “The tag concerns the public identity of the artist, not the way the music was produced.” Production-process details will remain available through existing features such as AI Credits and SongDNA. In practice, a human artist who employs AI tools for creation will not be labeled, provided their identity is authentic; a wholly fictitious persona, even if the music is high-quality, will be labeled and excluded from recommendations.

Spotify is walking a tightrope: on one hand it is pushing its own AI-driven features, including prompt-based playlists, an artificial-intelligence DJ, chat, and future remixes enabled by licensing deals with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Merlin. On the other hand, it must curb the influx of junk content that could degrade user experience and trigger subscription cancellations. The agreements with major labels are meant to allow fan-made remixes and covers while channeling royalties back to participating artists, distinguishing those works from the “personas” the new policy targets.

For developers and creators of music-making tools or distribution platforms, Spotify’s action signals a clear direction: major distribution platforms will begin enforcing identity transparency, not just technical transparency. Because exclusion from recommendations is the default and only an explicit user opt-in can override it, the “opt-in” becomes the sole discovery mechanism for AI personas. This shifts the economics of discovery: without algorithmic recommendations, such personas will need to build audiences through external channels or paid promotion. Spotify, for now, retains control over the definition of “authenticity,” a concept that is likely to surface in courts and regulatory bodies in the coming years.