Spotify CEO Says Platform Won't Completely Ban AI Music

AI-generated songs using artists' voices without their consent will still be removed

Photo: Magnus Höij

BY Ben OkazawaPublished Sep 26, 2023

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has announced that he won't completely ban AI-generated music from his platform.

In an interview with BBC News, he revealed that he believes the technology has three main uses in music, and sorted them into separate "buckets": acceptable (tools like Auto-Tune), unacceptable (tools that mimic existing artists' voices) and a grey area (music made by AI that is influenced by existing artists).

Songs like the AI-generated Drake and the Weeknd collab "Heart on My Sleeve," which was removed from Spotify shortly after it went up, presumably fall into that third bucket. 

Ek is the latest music executive to take a public stance on the use of AI in music during a year that's seen huge steps taken in legitimizing the technology, effectively dividing the industry. 

For the most part, artists have been against AI-generated music — Hozier even said he'd go on strike against its use — while the big corporations like Universal Music and Google are all for it (as long as they can monetize it, of course). 

One of the lone trailblazers among artists supporting the use of AI in music is Canada's own Grimes, who offered up her voice for AI use earlier this year. 

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