Careful What Music You W(ai)sh For As Deezer Sounds Alarm

That’s now the reality for Deezer, which has revealed that around 18% of tracks delivered to its platform daily are entirely generated by artificial intelligence—more than 20,000 AI-created uploads every single day. As streaming services grapple with a flood of synthetic content, Deezer is sounding the alarm on what it sees as a growing threat to artists, rights holders, and the integrity of music itself.

Aurelien Herault, Chief Innovation Officer at Deezer, brought the issue into sharper focus:

AI-generated content continues to flood streaming platforms like Deezer and we see no sign of it slowing down.

The company introduced an AI detection tool in January following patent filings late last year, which it says is now helping to identify fully synthetic content and remove it from algorithmic recommendations for its 9.7 million subscribers.

According to Deezer, that tool is capable of flagging music created by popular AI generators such as Suno and Udio. Both of these generators are currently facing lawsuits from the major labels over claims of unauthorised use of copyrighted material during the training of their models. German collection body GEMA has also filed a separate suit against Suno.

While the role of AI in music remains hotly debated, few argue the volume of AI content isn’t growing at a breakneck pace. Daily AI uploads to Deezer in just three months have doubled from 10,000 to over 20,000 tracks. That’s raised red flags about quality control and fairness in how royalties are distributed.

Back in January, Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said the platform intended to “exclude” fully AI-generated tracks from editorial and algorithmic recommendations:

Generative AI has the potential to positively impact music creation and consumption, but its use must be guided by responsibility and care in order to safeguard the rights and revenues of artists and songwriters.

Deezer has taken significant steps to reshape its platform, launching an “artist-centric” royalty model in 2023 in partnership with Universal Music Group. The approach favours music from professional artists actively searched for by listeners and aims to disincentivise royalty-skimming content like “noise” tracks and AI spam. Warner Music Group and indie licensing body Merlin have since joined the model in France, while Deezer says it deleted 26 million “useless” tracks from its library following the rollout.

Industry bodies remain deeply concerned. A recent report by CISAC, the global association for authors’ rights organisations, warned that AI could cannibalise up to 24% of music creators’ income by 2028. Meanwhile, many lawsuits have targeted AI music firms, with artists including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, and Stevie Wonder signing an open letter warning that training AI on copyrighted works without consent could “sabotage creativity.”

For now, Deezer is one of the few major streaming services taking a hard stance against the tide of AI-generated music. But with tools improving and upload volumes skyrocketing, the question remains whether others will follow suit—or whether the industry will be left sorting through the fallout of a wish granted too hastily.

When it comes to music’s AI future, Deezer’s warning couldn’t be clearer: Be careful what music you W(ai)sh for.

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