Spotify Will Label AI-Generated Artists and Exclude Them From Personalised Recommendations
Spotify will begin labelling AI-generated artists with a new "AI Persona" designation starting in mid-September, and music carrying that label will not appear in listeners' personalised recommendations. The company announced the policy on Aug. 11, the same day it opened a voluntary disclosure tool allowing creators to flag their own profiles as AI-generated. Billboard
The badge will sit on an artist's public profile and indicate one of two things: either the artist transparently disclosed that they are AI-generated, or Spotify itself reviewed the account and tagged it. The label is focused on the identity of the artist behind a profile, not on whether individual songs were made using AI tools. For accounts that Spotify flags on its own, artists will have the chance to self-disclose or appeal the designation.
Spotify will not rely solely on voluntary disclosures. The platform said it will also review accounts itself, and in the coming months listeners will be able to report profiles they believe are AI-generated. The two-tier approach — voluntary disclosure backed by platform-level review — is an attempt to keep pace with a volume of AI-created music that has grown faster than any labelling system could follow through manual checks alone.
For fans, the practical effect is straightforward: if an artist profile carries the "AI Persona" badge, its tracks will not surface in algorithmic recommendation streams such as Discover Weekly or personalised playlists. The music will still be searchable and playable, but Spotify's recommendation engine — the system that suggests new music based on listening habits — will steer clear.
The "AI Persona" label is the latest in a series of steps Spotify has taken this year to address AI-generated music on its platform. In April, it launched an "AI credits" tool, initially available only to users of DistroKid, a music distribution service that uploads independent releases to streaming platforms. That tool lets artists disclose which parts of a song used AI. Also in April, Spotify announced "Verified by Spotify," a new badge designed to signal that an artist profile has been reviewed and meets the platform's criteria for authenticity and trust. Profiles that appear to primarily represent AI-generated or AI-persona artists are not eligible for that verification. Spotify Newsroom
In March, Spotify rolled out an optional "Artist Profile Protection" feature that lets artists review releases before they appear on their profiles, aimed at guarding against generative AI spam — the practice of flooding an artist's page with unauthorised or AI-generated tracks.
Together, the measures add up to a framework where human and AI-generated artists are handled differently across verification, discovery and labelling. The "AI Persona" badge, arriving in September, is the most visible piece of that framework yet — a label listeners will see directly on the profiles it marks.
