Spotify's CEO assures that AI-generated music will not be prohibited

The CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, has stated that the company has no plans to completely ban content created by artificial intelligence (AI) from its music streaming platform. Earlier this year, Spotify removed a track that featured AI-cloned voices of musicians Drake and The Weeknd. Ek explained that while there are legitimate uses for AI in music production, it should not be used to impersonate human artists without their consent. He believes that the use of AI in music will continue to be a topic of debate for many years. Although AI is not prohibited on the platform, Spotify does not allow its content to be used to train machine learning or AI models. Many artists have expressed concerns about the use of AI in the creative industries. Last month, Irish musician Hozier even mentioned the possibility of striking over the threat it poses to his profession. Ek acknowledged the challenges the industry is facing and stated that Spotify has a dedicated team working on these issues. Earlier this year, it was revealed that thousands of tracks were removed from Spotify due to bots artificially inflating their streaming numbers. On a separate note, Ek discussed Spotify's significant investment in podcasts, which includes partnerships with high-profile figures such as Michelle and Barack Obama and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. He mentioned that while some of these endeavors have been successful, others have not. Furthermore, Ek criticized the business practices of Apple and Google's app stores, which charge developers a commission on in-app purchases, with Spotify particularly affected by this. He emphasized the need for more competition in the tech industry and expressed support for regulations aimed at making the internet safer for children and promoting fair competition.