Spotify is introducing a new 'AI Persona' badge to flag artist profiles that present an AI-generated identity rather than a real person.
This badge is designed to give more transparency to listeners, with music from those labelled as AI Personas to be excluded from personalised recommendations by default.
From mid-September, the badge will appear on mobile on artist profiles, in Search, and on track rows across playlists.
The move is the latest in a series of transparency features to be launched by the company this year after Verified by Spotify, AI Credits, SongDNA and Artist Profile Protection.
In a blog post, Spotify said: "Listeners have been clear in telling us that they don't like seeing an artist profile that seems human, only to find out that the persona is AI-generated. That’s why, starting mid-September, you’ll begin to see an AI Persona badge on some artist profiles.
"The badge signals to listeners that an artist’s identity may be AI-generated and does not represent a real person. Alongside artist profiles that self-disclose as AI Personas, we will also start applying badges to relevant profiles.
From today (August 11), artists can disclose through Spotify for Artists that their profile represents an AI Persona, but the platform says it will not rely on self-disclosure alone and will also use human review alongside AI investigative tools to apply the label.
AI Persona badges are part of our broader efforts to make Spotify the most transparent and trustworthy place to listen to music
Spotify
Artists whose profiles are labelled by Spotify will be notified and given the opportunity to self-disclose or appeal.
"By default, Spotify will not include AI Personas in any editorial or algorithmic recommendations," the post continued. "That means you won't see any music from AI Personas in your personalised recommendations, unless you follow AI Personas, for example.
"While we believe all artists have creative choice in determining how they present themselves, Spotify's programming is focused on elevating music from authentic artists building careers in music."
The platform says it will also introduce a way for listeners to report suspected AI Persona profiles in the coming months.
"AI Persona badges are part of our broader efforts to make Spotify the most transparent and trustworthy place to listen to music," it concluded. "In addition to these features, we tune our algorithms to highlight authentic human artists and, based on available signals, strive to not include spam, slop, or low-effort content in our recommendations.
"We know the music ecosystem is evolving, and so will our approach. We'll continue to adapt as the landscape changes and as we learn from artists, listeners, and industry partners."
