Will the Real Artist Please Stand Up? Spotify Identifying Real Artists

Photo Credit: Spotify

Spotify introduces verified artist badges to help listeners more easily distinguish real human artists from AI. Artists must meet certain criteria to receive the badge.

Spotify has announced a major move toward combating AI-generated music with a Verified by Spotify badge. This checkmark identification comes with some other perks that are currently still in beta, like additional details about artists’ activity on Spotify.

Together with other recently released features, including SongDNA, expanded song credits, About the Song, and AI credits, Spotify aims to give listeners more insight and transparency into the music and artists on the platform.

“We’ve designed this new verification program thoughtfully with listeners and artists in mind, and we’ll continue to evolve this program over time,” Spotify wrote. “Our goal is to make it easier for you to trust and understand the human artistry behind the music you listen to on Spotify, and develop long-term, meaningful connections with the artists and music you love.”

Crucially, the new Verified by Spotify badge shows that an artist profile has been reviewed and meets Spotify’s criteria for authenticity. To combat music appearing on artist profiles that doesn’t belong, artists will also have greater control over what appears on their profile, thanks to the new Artist Profile Protection feature, which is still in beta.

Artists must meet certain criteria to receive this badge, including an identifiable artist presence both on and off the platform. This includes things like concert dates, merch, and linked social accounts on their artist profile. Importantly, profiles that primarily post AI-generated music or an AI persona are not eligible for verification.

Further, artists must have consistent listener activity and engagement over time. To start, Spotify is focusing on artist profiles listeners are actively seeking out over a sustained period, as opposed to those that are seeing a sudden spike in engagement.

Over 99% of artists that listeners actively search will be verified at launch, and most are independent, according to Spotify. Users will start to see the new badges appearing on artist profiles in the next few weeks.