Spotify has said it does not need licensing agreements with all three major record labels before launching its AI-powered covers and remixes tool, according to Co-CEO Gustav Söderström on the company's Q2 2026 earnings call. The comments came shortly after Spotify announced a licensing deal with Merlin, the body representing independent labels, adding to its existing agreement with Universal Music Group struck in May, while Warner Music Group and Sony Music have yet to sign on for the product.

Söderström compared the situation to Spotify's early years, when the platform launched without significant parts of the music catalogue and only later secured acts such as The Beatles and Metallica. He said the tool's next step is a public "research preview" allowing fans to create remixes and rate them, generating preference data used to refine the model through reinforcement learning. He pointed to Spotify's base of 777 million monthly active users, and noted the company also passed 300 million Premium subscribers in the quarter, as a key advantage over rival AI music developers.