<\/p>\n
Spotify<\/a> says it wants to enable listeners to interact with their favorite artists\u2019 music through AI \u2013 and that the technology to do so is already built. The barrier? Licensing.<\/p>\n The comments, made by Co-CEO Gustav S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m on the company\u2019s Q4 2025 earnings call<\/a> on Tuesday (February 10), land amid an intensifying industry debate<\/a> over how AI-powered derivatives of existing music should be licensed and monetized \u2013 and where fans should be allowed to create them.<\/p>\n S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m broke Spotify\u2019s thinking on AI music into two categories. The first: net new music created from scratch using AI tools. The second: \u201cderivatives\u201d of existing music \u2013 AI-generated covers or remixes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the second category where Spotify appears most excited. S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m described \u201cderivatives, new takes on existing music\u201d as \u201can untapped opportunity for artists to make money off of their existing IP,\u201d noting that in film and TV, existing IP is \u201cincredibly valuable,\u201d but music has so far lacked the rights framework to let artists monetize their catalogs in a similar way through AI.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we see tells us listeners want to interact with their favorite music and many artists want to let them, creating new revenue from their existing catalog,\u201d S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m said. \u201cWe have the technology and capabilities ready to unlock this in a way that is additive for both IP rightsholders and Spotify.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe are ready for the partners that are hungry to seize this opportunity. We think the ones that move first will benefit the most.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we see tells us listeners want to interact with their favorite music and many artists want to let them. We have the technology and capabilities ready to unlock this.\u201d<\/p>\n Gustav S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m, Spotify<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He was clear about what\u2019s holding things up: \u201cThe absence of a rights framework has kept AI mostly focused on\u2026 net new creation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to work with the industry to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m added that Spotify is \u201calready working with\u201d artists and industry partners on the opportunity. He stressed that the company intends to build these features \u201cwith artists\u2019 support, not around them.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIn fact, many artists and industry partners see this opportunity, and we are already working with them on realizing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Co-CEO Alex Norstr\u00f6m reinforced the message, stressing that Spotify \u201cwill not do deals that aren\u2019t good for artists.\u201d<\/p>\n Spotify\u2019s comments follow similar signals from the other side of the table \u2013 specifically, from rightsholders.<\/p>\n Days before the Spotify call, Warner Music Group<\/a> CEO Robert Kyncl<\/a> told analysts on WMG\u2019s own earnings call<\/a> that \u201csuperfan tiers of the future will all include AI functionality to create,\u201d describing creation as \u201cthe ultimate expression of fandom.\u201d Kyncl said WMG is already in discussions with DSPs about incorporating AI creation tools into anticipated higher-priced superfan tiers.<\/p>\n The potential ability for fans to interact with, remix, and create music within Spotify arrives amid a heated debate over so-called \u2018walled gardens\u2019 in AI music<\/a>.<\/p>\n Universal Music Group<\/a> has championed a model where AI-generated music cannot be downloaded or distributed outside the platform on which it was created \u2013 a concept central to its settlement with Udio<\/a> last October.<\/p>\n Warner Music Group followed with its own Udio settlement<\/a> implementing similar restrictions. But when WMG then struck a separate deal with Suno<\/a>, the terms proved notably different \u2013 Suno retained much of its core functionality, including the ability for users to create songs and download them.<\/p>\n UMG\u2019s Michael Nash<\/a> recently argued<\/a> that without such restrictions, AI derivatives risk allowing users to \u201ceffectively use artists\u2019 content and their brand to create derivatives where you\u2019re going to compete with the artist on other platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n Suno, meanwhile, has pushed for what its Chief Music Officer Paul Sinclair has called \u201copen studios, not walled gardens\u201d<\/a> \u2013 maintaining creative freedom within licensed frameworks.<\/p>\n Spotify\u2019s framing appears to offer something of a middle ground. S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m is not arguing for open distribution of AI derivatives across the internet. Instead, he\u2019s positioning Spotify as the platform where this interaction should happen \u2013 where the fans, the royalty pool, and the technology already exist.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re an artist looking to unlock this potential upside, you\u2019d want to do it on the world\u2019s leading music platform,\u201d S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m said. \u201cYour fans and the largest royalty pool are already there.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked on the call whether AI music platforms like Suno, Udio and Stability could themselves become DSPs and take share from Spotify, Norstr\u00f6m pushed back: \u201cNo rightsholder is against our vision. We pretty much have the whole industry behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m also addressed the first of his two AI music categories: net new music being created from scratch using AI tools.<\/p>\n Asked what percentage of music on Spotify is currently AI-generated, S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m declined to share a figure. But he said Spotify shouldn\u2019t be the one deciding what tools artists are allowed to use.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you allowed to use an electric guitar, a synthesizer or a digital audio workstation, or AI \u2013 or a more complicated question, a bit of AI, like 1%, 15%, 20%, 100%? We don\u2019t think it\u2019s our decision to make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n What Spotify does think, however, is that consumers should know how music was made. S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m pointed to the company\u2019s work with labels and creators on metadata standards for disclosing how music was made, as well as its recently launched About The Song feature, which surfaces information about tracks from across the internet.<\/p>\n On the question of AI-generated spam, a growing concern across the industry, S\u00f6derstr\u00f6m acknowledged that AI can \u201caccelerate the amount of spammy tracks\u201d but argued it\u2019s a familiar challenge for the platform. \u201cBecause it\u2019s been a problem for a long time, we\u2019ve been investing more than anyone else in the industry to curb this problem,\u201d he said. \u201cFor us, spammy AI music is not a new problem. It\u2019s just more scale on an existing problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Last September, Spotify revealed<\/a> that it had deleted more than 75 million \u201cspammy tracks\u201d from its platform over the prior 12 months. Meanwhile, rival platform Deezer<\/a> reported last month<\/a> that it is now receiving over 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks every day \u2013 accounting for roughly 39% of all music delivered to the platform daily.<\/p>\n\n