The phenomenon of manipulating music listening on streaming platforms is not new, but experts say that generative artificial intelligence has significantly accelerated it and made it more difficult to control.
Renowned jazz composer and pianist Jason Moran received an unusual call from a friend last month. Bassist Burniss Earl Travis had seen a new release by Moran's name on Spotify.
“It has your name,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s you.”
Moran, who doesn't use Spotify and only releases music on Bandcamp, initially thought it was a mistake. But after checking, he found a Spotify profile under his name, where albums from his back catalog from Blue Note Records had been uploaded. Among them was a new EP called For You, which features a cover designed in the style of Japanese anime.
When he heard it, the result was clear.
“There’s not even a piano on that album,” he said. “It had nothing to do with my music.”
According to Moran, the music was in an indie pop style, completely foreign to his work. He immediately demanded the album be taken down.
Increasing imitation with AI
Moran is just one of many musicians facing fake profiles and releases on streaming platforms, including well-known names in jazz, indie rock and even artists like Drake.
Spotify has acknowledged the problem, stating that in the last 12 months alone it has removed over 75 million “spam songs.” The platform is also developing a new tool that will give artists more control over the releases that come out under their name.
A Spotify spokesperson said the company uses automated systems and human review to identify unauthorized content, but acknowledged that the problem remains complex.
“AI is accelerating fraud”
According to industry experts, the problem is not limited to one platform. Other services like Apple Music and YouTube are also facing similar issues.
According to Morgan Hayduk of Beatdapp, a streaming fraud detection company, 5% to 10% of listening in the industry could be manipulated, which translates into billions of dollars in losses.
“AI has become an accelerator of this problem,” he said.
According to him, the mass creation of artificial songs and the use of bots to artificially increase listening makes fraud easier and faster than ever before.
The problem of artistic identity
Moran describes the situation as troubling even for deceased artists. He raised the question of how the authenticity of a new release by names like John Coltrane or Billie Holiday could be verified.
“They have no way to object,” he said.
Although Spotify says that artists' legal representatives can use the new verification tools, in practice many profiles remain unprotected until the artists themselves identify the problems.
Responsibility on artists
After discovering the fake album, Moran contacted Spotify and, after verification, the album was removed within 72 hours. But he says the process depends a lot on the vigilance of the artists themselves.
“They leave it there until we find it ourselves,” he said. “This is an unfair burden on us.”
He adds that to fully control his releases, he only uses Bandcamp, where artists have more control over content and pricing.
A rapidly changing industry
Legal experts warn that platforms are being forced to operate in a gray area, where the line between law enforcement and content moderation is blurred.
Meanwhile, problems are emerging faster than solutions.
For Moran, the essence lies in the music itself, not in its manipulation.
"People can't pay for the power of songs," he said. /GazetaExpress/
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