Spotify removed 75 million AI-generated tracks in 2025 as it cracks down on royalty abuse

Q: What types of AI-generated uploads is Spotify specifically calling 'fraud' or 'slop'?

Spotify is calling low-effort, mass-produced uploads that game royalty payments and recommendation algorithms "fraud" or "slop." Specifically, it cites networks of bots uploading thousands of short ambient loops or similar loop tracks in bulk to siphon royalty payments.

Q: Does Spotify ban AI-generated music entirely or allow it under certain conditions?

Spotify does not ban AI-generated music entirely; it is targeting low-effort, mass-produced uploads that game royalty payouts and recommendation systems. Spotify welcomes AI-generated tracks when creators hold necessary commercial rights, avoid unauthorized voice cloning, and show genuine creative input, while building systems to prevent bulk abuse and catalog harvesting.

Q: What rights and practices does Spotify require from creators who upload AI-generated tracks?

Spotify allows AI-generated music only if creators hold the necessary commercial rights to the material, avoid unauthorised voice cloning, and can demonstrate genuine creative input in the work. The company is targeting fraudulent practices like bulk-uploaded, low-effort loops meant to game royalties and recommendation algorithms and therefore rejects such mass-produced uploads.

Q: How is Spotify detecting and preventing networks of bots that bulk-upload tracks to siphon royalties?

Spotify says it identifies and removes low-effort, mass-produced uploads , principally thousands of short ambient loops uploaded in bulk by bot networks , and has removed more than 75 million AI-generated tracks in 2025 as part of that crackdown. The company has built systems to stop AI firms from bulk-harvesting its catalogue and is deploying filters and music-spam detection to block and remove bot-driven bulk uploads. (Related: Spotify launches music spam filter to kill off AI slop flooding playlists).

Spotify says it's targeting bulk-uploaded loop tracks that exploit royalty payouts, not AI music itself, even as 44% of new uploads are AI-generated.

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Hassam Nasir

Tech Reporter

Published Jul 18, 2026 4:10 PM CDT

1 minute & 15 seconds read time

TL;DR: Spotify removed over 75 million AI-generated tracks in 2025 for being low-effort, bulk uploads designed to game royalties and recommendation systems, not as a blanket ban on AI music. About 44% of new uploads are AI-made; Spotify allows AI music with proper rights and no unauthorized voice cloning, while industry groups push AI labeling.

Voice: Hassam NasirSpeed

0:00 / 2:38

Spotify removed more than 75 million AI-generated tracks from its platform in 2025 alone, according to Sam Duboff, the company's senior director. The company says the crackdown isn't aimed at AI music itself, but at low-effort, mass-produced uploads designed to manipulate royalty payments and recommendation algorithms.

Around 100,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day, and a growing share are created using AI tools like Suno or custom LLM-based workflows that can generate a finished track from a text prompt in seconds. In fact, industry analysis suggests roughly 44% of all music uploaded to streaming platforms is now AI-generated. According to Duboff, the tracks Spotify removed were largely low-effort "slop" uploaded in bulk to game royalty pools and recommendation algorithms.

Spotify still welcomes AI-generated music, provided creators hold the necessary commercial rights, avoid unauthorised voice cloning, and demonstrate genuine creative input. What the company is targeting is fraud. Networks of bots upload thousands of short ambient loops or similar tracks to siphon royalty payments that would otherwise go to legitimate artists. Spotify has also built systems to prevent AI companies from bulk-harvesting its catalogue for model training.

Spotify removed 75 million AI-generated tracks in 2025 as it cracks down on royalty abuse 2

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Real artists are increasingly using AI tools in their production workflows, making quality control more complicated. Duboff acknowledged those blurred lines directly, noting that not every AI-generated track should be dismissed simply because it involves AI.

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What types of AI-generated uploads is Spotify specifically calling 'fraud' or 'slop'?

Question #2

Does Spotify ban AI-generated music entirely or allow it under certain conditions?

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What rights and practices does Spotify require from creators who upload AI-generated tracks?

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How is Spotify detecting and preventing networks of bots that bulk-upload tracks to siphon royalties?

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Beyond Spotify, the wider music industry is also adapting. The IFPI, RIAA, and several other major trade organisations have announced a voluntary labelling initiative that will identify tracks as either AI-generated or AI-assisted, giving listeners greater transparency about what they're hearing.