Spotify has removed tens of thousands of songs from AI music start-up Boomy, stepping up surveillance of its platform amid complaints of fraud and clutter on streaming services.
In recent months, the music industry has had to deal with the rise of AI-generated songs and, more generally, the growing number of tracks flooding streaming platforms daily.
Spotifythe largest audio streaming company, recently removed about 7% of the tracks that had been uploaded by Boomy, the equivalent of “tens of thousands” of songs, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Recording giant Universal Music had reported to all major streaming platforms that it had seen suspicious streaming activity on Boomy’s tracks, according to another person familiar with the situation.
Boomy’s songs were taken down due to suspected “artificial streaming” — online bots posing as human listeners to inflate viewership for certain songs.
AI has made this kind of task easier because it allows someone to instantly generate lots of pieces of music, which can then be uploaded online and streamed.
Boomy, which launched two years ago, allows users to choose various styles or descriptors, such as “rap beats” or “rainy nights,” to create a machine-generated track. Users can then release the music to streaming services, where they will generate royalty payments. California-based Boomy says its users have created more than 14 million songs.
Spotify has confirmed that it has removed some Boomy content. “Artificial streaming is a long-standing industry-wide issue that Spotify is working to eliminate from our service,” the company said.
“We are always encouraged when we see our partners supervising monitoring or activity on their platforms,” said Michael Nash, chief digital officer at Universal.
The crackdown comes as powerful music industry broker Lucian Grainge has spent the last few months talking about the proliferation of songs on platforms like Spotify, where 100,000 new tracks are added every day, and the growing manipulation of the system.
Grainge, the chief executive officer of Universal, told investors last week that “the recent explosive development of generative AI, if left unchecked, will increase the flow of unwanted content onto platforms and create rights issues with existing copyright law.” “.
While the use of AI to create songs is nothing new, the issue has risen to the forefront of conversations in the music industry in recent months. The streaming boom has given birth to a number of services that offer artists the chance to work their way to success. A Google search for “buy Spotify streams” yields millions of results, with sites like “spotistar.com” offering 1,000 Spotify plays for $6.
The Financial Times reported last month that Universal sent a letter to streaming services asking them to crack down on the use of generative AI on their platforms. That same week, a song that used artificial intelligence to mimic the voices of Drake and The Weeknd went viral on streaming platforms.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told analysts last week, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this in technology,” regarding how quickly AI technology was progressing.
Boomy over the weekend has resumed sending new songs to Spotify. The two sides are negotiating to restore the rest of Boomy’s catalog. The company said: “Boomy is adamantly against any kind of manipulation or artificial streaming. We are working with industry partners to address this issue.”
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