Spotify Hits Half A Billion Users, But Won’t Answer The Billion-Dollar AI Question – SlashGear

Earlier this month, AI tracks mimicking top-tier stars like Drake and The Weeknd hit Spotify and Apple Music, generating waves throughout the industry. Universal Music Group didn’t seem too happy about it, and asked Spotify and Apple Music to pull the contentious, AI-generated material. Canadian musician Grimes has announced that every person is free to generate songs copying her voice using AI, and that she will do a 50-50 split of the royalties from such content.

Spotify chief Ek didn’t touch any aspect of the AI wave directly. He claimed that the company takes its role of supporting artists and creators “very, very seriously,” without outlining any concrete steps or policies to do so. “These are very complex issues that don’t have a straight answer on how you take the position depending on what would happen.”

However, it looks like Spotify — just like its music streaming rivals, as well as records — is still undecided on what route to take regarding embracing or policing AI-generated tracks, which walk the fine line between copyright violation and creative expression. “We want to strike a balance between innovation and protecting artists,” Ek concluded.