Spotify has announced a new "AI Persona" badge that will be applied to artist profiles featuring music created using artificial intelligence, in a bid to help listeners distinguish real performers from AI-generated ones. The policy comes amid a marked rise in AI music on streaming platforms, with acts such as Sienna Rose and the Velvet Sundown having racked up millions of streams while appearing to be human artists, prompting complaints from users who felt misled.

The badge scheme officially begins in mid-September, though artists can start self-disclosing from 11 August, after which Spotify will review and label unmarked profiles itself. Labelled profiles will be excluded from editorial and algorithmic recommendations, though they can still surface for users who already follow them, and the badge will appear on profiles, in search results and on playlist track listings, alongside a note on whether the label was self-applied or added by Spotify. Artists can appeal a badge they believe was wrongly assigned. Spotify has faced separate criticism over AI use, including from Lorde in July after its "About the Song" feature generated inaccurate AI information about her track "Current Affairs".