Deezer reports 18 percent of the music uploaded to its service every day is AI-generated
Deezer, a Spotify alternative that launched in the US in 2016, shared on Wednesday that 20,000 completely AI-generated tracks are added to its music service on a daily basis, making up "over 18% of all uploaded content" the platform receives every day.
Like other streaming services, Deezer offers methods for independent artists to upload their own music without having to be part of a larger licensing deal with a record label. While that lowers some barriers, it also leaves the door open for music that isn't made by people at all. Clearly, people are taking advantage of the option.
Deezer introduced a tool for detecting and tagging AI-generated content in January 2025, when at the time, AI-generated music only made up 10 percent of uploads. The tool is helpful, but it feels like a stopgap until there's consensus on whether AI-generated tracks should be allowed to exist in the first place. AI companies contend that training on existing books, movies, music, and internet ephemera is "fair use," but many of the people who made that material feel differently. In terms of pushback, AI music startups Suno and Udio were sued by record labels for copyright infringement in 2024 and artists have spoken out about "unlicensed AI training" but there's yet to be ruling that sets the new legal standard.
Deezer also isn't alone in dealing with an infestation of AI-generated content. It's well-documented at this point that Spotify has the same issue. Subscribers have highlighted dozens of instances of AI-generated tracks that were clearly uploaded to try and game Spotify's popular weekly playlists, and while Spotify has removed some copycat tracks when artists have complained, the company has no qualms with hosting AI music.
"If creators are using these technologies — where they are creating music in a legal way that we reimburse and people listen to them — and are successful, we should let people listen to them," Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström shared on a Big Technology podcast episode from November 2024. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/deezer-reports-18-percent-of-the-music-uploaded-to-its-service-every-day-is-ai-generated-193652533.html?src=rss