Spotify lets artists approve tracks to stop AI imposters
What's the story
Spotify is testing a new feature called "Artist Profile Protection," which gives artists the power to review and approve their music releases before they go live. The move comes amid growing concerns of impersonation and AI-generated fake tracks on streaming platforms. High-profile artists like Drake, Beyonce, William Basinski, and indie rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have all been victims of this problem.
Feature details
The review process adds an extra step in releasing songs
The Artist Profile Protection feature acts as a buffer against bad actors by preventing songs from being incorrectly attributed to the wrong artist. This can happen due to metadata mixups or shared names. The review process, however, adds an extra step in releasing songs on Spotify. Artists who are part of the beta test will have to opt-in for this feature.
Workaround
Spotify is also issuing artist keys to beta participants
To ease the burden of manual approvals, Spotify is also issuing artist keys to beta participants. This unique code, when included with the music, triggers an automatic approval. The company has described this feature as a "limited beta" but plans to roll it out to all artists as soon as possible.