Spotify to identify AI-generated artists with new profile labels

Spotify says it will begin requiring labels for artist profiles that represent AI-generated identities, introducing a new AI Persona badge aimed at helping listeners distinguish between human artists and AI-created personas on the platform.

The music streaming giant disclosed the policy on Tuesday in a statement published on its official newsroom, saying the labels will start appearing on some artist profiles from mid-September as part of a broader effort to improve transparency and trust in music streaming.

The move comes as AI-generated music becomes increasingly common across streaming platforms, with some viral songs attracting millions of plays before listeners realise they were created using artificial intelligence.

What they are saying

Spotify said artists will be able to voluntarily disclose that their profile represents an AI Persona through Spotify for Artists, while the company will also independently review profiles and apply labels where necessary.

The AI Persona badge will appear on artist profiles, in search results, and on track listings across playlists. According to Spotify, the label is designed to show that an artist identity may be AI-generated and does not represent a real person.

• “We hope artists will be transparent, so we are giving them the opportunity to disclose, but we won’t rely on self-disclosure alone,” the company said.

Spotify said it will review artist profiles whose public identities appear to represent photorealistic AI-generated personas and notify affected artists, who will be allowed to appeal the decision or self-disclose.

The company also said listeners will eventually be able to report profiles they believe represent AI Personas.

• “In the coming months, we’ll also give listeners the ability to report artist profiles they believe represent AI Personas to our review team,” Spotify said.

The platform added that AI Persona accounts will not be included in editorial or algorithmic recommendations by default, unless users specifically choose to follow them.

Get up to speed

Spotify’s announcement comes amid the rapid rise of AI-generated music, particularly in Nigeria and other African markets, where several AI-created songs have gained mainstream traction.

• One of the most notable examples was Papaoutai – Afro Soul (Stromae Remix), a fully AI-generated voice-cloned cover that became a viral hit in early 2026. The track debuted on Spotify’s global chart and climbed to the top of Nigeria’s Spotify Viral chart, with many listeners initially unaware that the vocals were AI-generated.
• Other AI-created tracks, including Soul Of Afrika by Grace Echo and This Year, also reached the top 10 of Nigeria’s Spotify Daily Viral Songs chart, while DON’T PLAY WITH ME by Thompsxn Therapy became one of the country’s top trending songs in early 2026.
• The growing popularity of AI-generated music has intensified concerns across the global music industry about transparency, consent, and the misuse of artists’ identities.

In 2024, more than 200 prominent musicians signed an open letter calling for stronger protections against AI systems that imitate artists’ voices, likenesses, and musical styles. The signatories included Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, J Balvin, Stevie Wonder, members of REM, and the estates of Frank Sinatra and Bob Marley.

Spotify said the new identity labels are intended to address one specific question for listeners: whether the artist profile represents an actual human being.

• “Listeners have been clear in telling us that they don’t like seeing an artist profile that seems human, only to find out that the persona is AI-generated,” the company said.

What you should know

Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming platform and has become one of the fastest-growing digital music services in Nigeria.

• The company says Nigerian listeners streamed more than 1.4 million hours of music on Spotify in 2025, while podcast consumption on the platform has surpassed 59 billion hours since Spotify launched in the country.
• Streaming activity in Nigeria has grown at a triple-digit average annual rate over the past five years, reflecting the country’s rapidly expanding digital music market.
• Spotify’s latest Loud & Clear report also showed that Nigerian artists earned more than N60 billion from Spotify streams in 2025, with revenues from the platform increasing by over 140% in the past two years.

The AI identity labels form part of Spotify’s wider transparency initiative, which includes artist verification, AI usage disclosures, contributor information through SongDNA, and profile protection tools designed to prevent artist impersonation and misattributed releases.