Spotify and Universal Music Group have signed a new licensing deal that could put AI-generated covers and remixes directly into the hands of Premium users, and that makes this a live rights issue for publishers, songwriters, and artists right now. The new tool is being pitched as a paid add-on built around consent, credit, and compensation, which puts the focus squarely on how licensed songs are used and who gets paid when fans start reworking them.
A new paid AI feature tied to licensed UMG tracks
Announced Thursday at Spotify’s Investor Day presentation, the “landmark” agreement is set to introduce a new paid add-on tool for Spotify Premium users. The feature will allow subscribers to generate AI covers and remixes of licensed UMG tracks from participating artists.
Spotify’s statement said the tool is designed to “open up additional revenue streams and new ways to drive discovery,” and described it as an “additional source of income for artists and songwriters, on top of what they already earn on Spotify.” No launch date has been announced.
Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström said the feature was “grounded in consent, credit, and compensation” for participating artists and songwriters. He also said Spotify has worked with Sir Lucian Grainge and his team “through each technological transformation” to evolve the music ecosystem into “a richer, more beneficial experience for fans and a more rewarding outcome for artists and songwriters.”
Spotify’s AI shift comes after a crackdown
The deal lands after Spotify vowed to crack down on AI last year, saying it would push back against music intended to “confuse or deceive listeners, push ‘slop’ into the ecosystem, and interfere with authentic artists working to build their careers.”
Spotify said that crackdown followed the removal of 75 million tracks and a campaign targeting impersonators flooding the platform. It also came after a report that AI-generated songs were being uploaded to dead musicians’ Spotify profiles without permission.
In March, a singer-songwriter pleaded guilty to defrauding music streamers out of millions in royalties after flooding services with thousands of AI-generated songs and automated bots.
The wider AI pressure keeps building
The Spotify-UMG deal also arrives as other platforms explore licensed AI customization. Billboard noted that generative AI platforms such as Udio and Klay have been looking at ways to let users customize pre-existing licensed songs.
Elsewhere, Deezer said earlier this month that almost half of the music uploaded to its platform is AI-generated. The company said roughly 75,000 new AI-made tracks are being added every day, equal to 44 per cent of the total. Deezer said that figure is up from 28 per cent last September and 10 per cent last January.
Deezer also said a study last November found that 97 per cent of people “can’t tell the difference” between real and AI music.
What to watch next: when Spotify says the feature will launch, which artists participate, and how the platform structures consent, credit, and compensation for the AI covers and remixes.
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