{"id":468712,"date":"2026-05-27T00:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/468712\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T00:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:53:16","slug":"spotify-chief-defends-ai-generated-music-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/468712\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotify chief defends AI-generated music \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotify <\/a>co-chief executive Alex Norstr\u00f6m has defended the company\u2019s expansion into artificial intelligence<\/a>-generated music, arguing that \u201ccontrolled\u201d products offer a better alternative to the unregulated AI \u201cslop\u201d already spreading online.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of rogue attempts at this,\u201d Norstr\u00f6m said, referring to tools to make music with artificial intelligence (AI). He said Spotify wants to be \u201cthe one that\u2019s legal\u201d and \u201cthe one that\u2019s controlled\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the company struck a deal with Universal Music that will allow subscribers to create AI-generated covers and remixes of songs from participating artists.<\/p>\n

The tool \u2013 which will cost extra money \u2013 would allow \u201cone song to become 10,000 songs\u201d inside Spotify\u2019s app, Norstr\u00f6m told investors, as part of a raft of announcements that sent the stock up 18 per cent. The companies have not disclosed how much the feature will cost on top of a standard Spotify subscription.<\/p>\n

While Universal has previously reached AI deals with smaller start-ups, Spotify is the first major streaming platform to launch a commercial AI music product with label backing. The agreement marks a significant moment for the music industry, with the dominant streaming service now openly embracing AI-generated music.<\/p>\n

Norstr\u00f6m acknowledged there was a growing backlash from artists and listeners over \u201cAI slop\u201d flooding digital platforms.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Replicant rock: How AI-generated pop stars are killing musicOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some negativity out there about AI, for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s reasonable because some of it is misaligned AI.\u201d <\/p>\n

But Norstr\u00f6m argued that Spotify\u2019s licensing agreements, recommendation systems and artist verification tools would help distinguish its approach.<\/p>\n

He said Spotify and Universal Music had spent time negotiating the agreement through \u201cseveral discussions\u201d. \u201cWe had to kind of find our way there,\u201d he said, describing the deal as a \u201cwin-win situation\u201d for Spotify, artists and rightsholders.<\/p>\n

Norstr\u00f6m said Spotify wanted to avoid the kind of AI-driven experiences that \u201cmake you feel good in the moment\u201d but ultimately leave users feeling they had \u201cwasted\u201d their time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rents and evictions soar as house price inflation slows<\/p>\n

The deal comes at a sensitive moment, as creative industries fear that AI could undermine human work. Last week producer Jack Antonoff slammed what he called the \u201cnew ways you can fake making art\u201d. <\/p>\n

In the US, unease over AI has intensified in recent months, with protests erupting over new data centres and students booing references to artificial intelligence at university commencement ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Spotify last month introduced a verification badge intended to distinguish human artists from AI-generated content after \u201cwe heard the industry\u201d, Norstr\u00f6m said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of AI slop out there. I mean, fraud and abuse, we\u2019ve been fighting forever,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Universal, the largest record label, which is home to artists including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga, has licensed its music to several AI groups in recent months, including Udio, Klay Vision and Stability AI. <\/p>\n

Despite growing competition from start-ups, Norstr\u00f6m argued Spotify\u2019s scale and industry relationships gave it an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompared to a start-up … our investment per subscriber is essentially going to be minuscule,\u201d he said. \u201cScale begets scale here … winners win more.\u201d \u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spotify co-chief executive Alex Norstr\u00f6m has defended the company\u2019s expansion into artificial intelligence-generated music, arguing that \u201ccontrolled\u201d products…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[220,218,219,61,60,14735,80],"class_list":["post-468712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-spotify","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}