Spotify is putting a label on AI artists

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The new badge will appear on artist profiles, in Search and on track rows across playlists, while music from labelled AI Personas will be excluded from personalised recommendations by default.

So, what exactly is an AI Persona?

The new label is aimed specifically at the identity being presented by an artist, rather than whether AI was used somewhere in the making of a song.

That means an artist can use AI as part of their creative process without automatically being labelled an AI Persona. Instead, the badge is intended for profiles where the public-facing artist identity appears to be an AI-generated person.

Spotify says listeners will be able to spot the badge on artist profiles, in Search and alongside tracks across playlists.

And there’s another catch: music from AI Personas will be excluded from Spotify’s personalised recommendations by default.

So while you can still listen to an AI Persona if you find one yourself, Spotify won't proactively serve their music through its personalised recommendations unless, for example, you already follow the artist.

Artists can come clean themselves

Spotify isn't leaving it entirely up to its own detective work.

From 11 August, artists can disclose through Spotify for Artists that their profile represents an AI Persona. The company says it hopes artists will be upfront about their identities, but self-disclosure won't be the only way a profile gets labelled.

Spotify will also use human review alongside AI investigative tools to identify profiles that appear to represent photorealistic, AI-generated identities.

If Spotify applies the label itself, the artist will be notified and given the chance to either disclose their status or appeal the decision.

Your playlist is getting a little more transparent

The move is part of Spotify's wider push to give listeners more information about the people, and technology, behind the music they hear.

The platform has already introduced AI Credits, which allow artists to disclose how AI was used in creating a track, as well as SongDNA, which gives listeners more information about the contributors behind a song.

It has also introduced Verified by Spotify, Artist Details and Artist Profile Protection as part of its broader focus on artist identity and authenticity.

Spotify says its AI Persona label is deliberately separate from these tools because there's a difference between using AI to make music and pretending an AI-generated person is a real artist.

But where does this leave AI music?

The rise of AI-generated music has made the idea of an "artist" considerably more complicated. A song can be created with AI assistance, performed through an AI-generated voice and released under a fictional identity, all while looking remarkably similar to the profiles of real musicians.

Spotify's latest move doesn't attempt to answer whether that music should exist. Instead, it's giving listeners more information so they can decide what they want to hear.