If you have ever wished you could hear your favourite song in a completely different style, or put your own spin on it? Spotify is about to make that happen. The streaming platform announced a new AI-powered tool that will let Premium subscribers create covers and remixes of songs from participating artists.
The tool comes out of a landmark licensing deal between Spotify and Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, whose roster includes Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Post Malone. It will launch as a paid add-on for Premium subscribers, though no release date or exact pricing details have been confirmed yet.
How will Spotify’s AI cover and remix tool work for fans and artists?
The new feature lets fans use generative AI to produce their own versions of licensed songs and share them on the platform. Artists who opt into the program will collect royalties on any AI-generated covers or remixes made from their music, creating a new revenue stream on top of what they already earn from regular streams.
Artists can also choose to opt out entirely. Spotify Co-CEO Alex Norström described the tool as being built on consent, credit, and compensation.
What makes this different from the AI music already on Spotify?
Spotify has faced criticism for AI-generated content flooding its library. The platform removed 75 million spammy tracks last year before introducing AI content tagging.
This one tries a different angle though, putting AI in the hands of fans while making sure artists stay in control and actually get paid for it.
Whether people will embrace AI remixes or treat them the same way they have treated the wave of AI slop already clogging up streaming platforms, remains to be seen.
Spotify also added verified podcast badges recently to help listeners tell real hosts apart from AI clones, and gave artists more control over how AI-generated content appears alongside their music.