Music streaming giant Spotify has introduced a verification system for artists to increase trust in the authenticity of artists on its platform.
The badge, which takes the form of a green tick on an artist’s profile, is only available to those that have been reviewed by Spotify and adhere to its standards of trust. In order to receive one, artists must have consistent listener activity and engagement over time, adhere to Spotify’s platform policies and have an identifiable artist presence.
Consistent listener activity means the artist must have listeners that are “actively and intentionally” seeking out their music over a sustained period of time, meaning it does not count unique spikes in engagement. The company said that this is also key to making manual review feasible due to the millions of profiles on the platform.
An artist’s presence extends beyond Spotify itself; the team will also look for signs including concert dates, merchandise and linked social media accounts on an artist’s account to ensure they have a presence outside of the streaming platform.
Currently, accounts that appear to represent AI generated artists are not eligible for verification. Spotify added that the concept of artist authenticity is “complex,” and its approach to verification will continue to evolve over time.
The new badge will roll out in the coming weeks, with verification reviews for both new and existing badge holders happening on an ongoing basis. Spotify said that 99 per cent of the artists listeners actively search for will be verified at launch, prioritising fan interest or importance to musical history. It will not include “functional music creators” or content farms, even if they have high passive listenership.
In September, Spotify launched a series of tools aimed to curb the rising tide of AI-powered content farms that spam the platform with “slop”, impacting user experience and payouts for legitimate artists.
In February of last year, a consortium of Bollywood music labels requested to join a lawsuit against OpenAI for allegedly training its models on their sound recordings without permission.
