Spotify has taken down thousands of music tracks created by the AI startup Boomy, according to Financial Times. Boomy records 14.5 million songs, which comprises 14% of the world’s recorded music. The reason for the takedown is because of inflated streams on certain tracks, which is a suspect of bot usage. After Universal Music had circulated the warning, Spotify took down about 7% of Boomy’s tracks.
Spotify released a statement that it is performing action to remove streaming numbers and withhold royalties of those found to be manipulating the system. Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO, mentioned his concerns of AI generated music and the platform hopes to have a strategy to protect musicians while permitting innovation. There were also reports of AI generated songs, with the voices of Drake or The Weeknd, going viral on TikTok before being taken down because of copyright infringements.
Boomy is a tech startup which has made it easier for user to create music with different styles such as rap or lo-fi, and then released it to streaming services to be paid royalties. However, due to the potential misuse of streams, the company met Spotify’s move of taking down the specific tracks. Boomy did not respond to the request for comment.
AI generated music is a growing concern for musicians as it presents a difficult line to balance innovation and copying music to generate money. It is ultimately important to manage the irresponsible use of technologies such as AI and bots, which harms genuine musicians and composers.
