Deezer Declares War on AI-Generated Music Scams
Deezer, a major French music streaming service, has had enough of AI-generated songs flooding its platform. According to the company, over 50% of new music uploaded to Deezer comes from artificial intelligence-powered tools.
Deezer’s move is a response to a growing problem in the music industry: AI-generated music, also known as “deepfakes” or “slop music,” is being used to scam artists and listeners alike. These artificially created tracks are often uploaded to streaming platforms to artificially inflate an artist’s streaming numbers, boosting their popularity and earning them more money.
The AI Stream Scam
The AI stream scam works like this: an artist pays to have their music remade into a slightly altered version, often with similar but slightly worse production quality. This altered version is then uploaded to streaming platforms, where it’s streamed by bots and fake accounts, artificially inflating the artist’s streaming numbers. The scammer earns money from the artist for the remade music and from the streaming platforms for the fake streams.
This practice not only cheats artists out of their fair share of streaming revenue but also devalues the value of their original work. Deezer’s move is a significant step in cracking down on these scams and promoting fair play in the music industry.
What this means
Deezer’s decision to remove AI-generated songs used for fraudulent streams means that artists and listeners can trust the music they find on the platform. It also sets a precedent for other music streaming services to follow suit, potentially reducing the prevalence of AI-generated music scams across the industry.
For artists, this means that they can focus on creating music that resonates with genuine listeners, rather than relying on scams to boost their popularity. For listeners, it means that they can enjoy music without worrying about artificial inflation of streaming numbers.
