Deezer Takes a Stand Against AI Music

The music streaming giant has launched a tool that scans playlists to identify AI-generated tracks, marking a significant move in the ongoing battle against AI music.

As the rise of AI-generated music on streaming services continues, concerns are growing regarding how AI companies use copyrighted material to train their models, as well as how potential manipulations in streaming systems could lead to fraud. The lack of AI music detection tools from many music streaming services has left the industry with a significant gap.

However, Deezer has taken matters into its own hands. The company has introduced a tool that scans playlists from various streaming platforms to identify AI-generated tracks. Announced on Thursday, this free online AI music detector supports 27 languages and gives users from 20 of the most popular platforms the chance to see if their playlists include any AI-generated songs.

The launch further positions Deezer as one of the music industry's most aggressive opponents of AI music, which could be a selling point for its service among consumers. While rivals like Apple Music and Spotify have opted for a tagging approach, Deezer actively removes AI tracks from recommendations and excludes them from editorial playlists. It also recently began offering its AI detection technology to rival platforms.

How the Tool Works

To use the new tool, users can visit Deezer's AI music detector website, select their streaming service, and allow Deezer to access their playlists. Once the playlists are imported, the service scans for AI content, notifies users of any findings, and even offers the option to share the results. The tool is compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music, among other platforms.

A Commitment to Transparency

Deezer's CEO, Alexis Lanternier, emphasized the importance of transparency in a statement. "By detecting and tagging AI-generated music over the past year and a half, Deezer has been at the forefront of transparency in music streaming. No other company has followed our lead yet, so we decided to make it possible for everyone to check if their playlists include synthetic music, no matter which streaming platform they use."

Future Steps

Notably, the company revealed that it is carefully considering future steps, such as updating supplier policies or removing content. This would follow in Bandcamp's footsteps, which banned AI music earlier this year.

AI Music Statistics

The launch of the new tool comes on the heels of Deezer revealing that a staggering 44% of all new music uploaded to its platform is AI-generated. The company is currently being flooded with nearly 75,000 AI-generated tracks daily, which totals over two million each month. Despite this influx, the listening rate for AI-generated music remains relatively low, accounting for just 1-3% of total streams. Around 85% of these streams are flagged as fraudulent and are demonetized by the platform.

The introduction of Deezer's AI music detector marks a significant move in the ongoing battle against AI music. As the industry continues to grapple with the implications of AI-generated music, it will be interesting to see how other streaming services respond to Deezer's initiative.