Spotify is rolling out new badges to artists in a move to differentiate human-made music from AI-generated content on the popular music streaming platform.
In the coming weeks, users will start to see new “Verified by Spotify” icons, which look like green checkmarks, on artist profiles that have been reviewed by the company.
“In the AI era, it’s more important than ever to be able to trust the authenticity of the music you listen to,” Spotify wrote in a blog post Thursday announcing the change.
Eligible artists must meet Spotify’s criteria for authenticity and trust, which include compliance with platform rules, consistent listener activity and engagement and indicators of a real artist presence both on and off the streaming service — such as concert dates, merchandise sales and linked social media accounts.
“We’ll pair these standards with human review and judgment to identify real artists behaving in good-faith, not just filtering out bad actors,” the company wrote, adding that it will also continue to adapt its approach as needed.
It’s the latest evolution in Spotify’s efforts to authenticate the millions of artists, most of whom are small indie musicians, who have presences on the platform.
The blue “Verified Artist” checkmark that Spotify first rolled out in 2017 was meant to signify that an artist’s profile was claimed and actively managed in Spotify for Artists. But as people began to mistake verification for notability, the platform replaced the checkmark this year with the “Registered Artist” label.
Now, the green “Verified by Spotify” checkmarks will be handed out to artists on an ongoing basis. Upon launch, according to Spotify, the badges will first go to artists who have “made important contributions to music culture and history, rather than functional music creators and content farms whose content is primarily designed for passive or background listening.”
But those who don’t immediately get the badge may still get it in the future, as long as they meet the criteria for eligibility.
AI-generated music is growing increasingly sophisticated, making its infiltration into streaming platforms like Spotify harder for listeners to detect.
Last summer, an indie band called The Velvet Sundown got more than 1 million plays on Spotify before heavy speculation forced the supposed group to confirm that all of its tracks were generated with AI. Since then, several Spotify artists have similarly amassed millions of monthly listeners despite being suspected of being AI.
As confusion grew, many listeners lamented the incorporation of AI-generated music in their Spotify algorithms. Last year, around 6,300 users voted in a live poll for Spotify to “introduce a clear label for AI-generated songs and provide an option to filter them out entirely.”
In response, Spotify announced plans last fall to implement clearer AI disclosures in song credits, along with stricter impersonation rules.
In recent months, the company has also introduced a slate of features to give users more context about the contributors, collaborators and other influences that make up the songs they’re listening to.
Along with the new green checkmarks, Spotify announced plans to introduce a section on all artist profiles, regardless of verification status, that showcases information such as career milestones or their song release and touring activities.
It’s similar to the platform’s recently launched About the Song feature, which integrates swipeable story cards summarizing facts about a track as it plays on the user’s device.
Spotify's head of global artist partnerships, Ashley Graver, said Thursday that the idea for a new verification badge stemmed from her conversations with artists, their teams and their fans.
"Listeners need to trust that the artists they're listening to are real artists building careers in music," Graver said in a video message on Spotify News’ Instagram account.
