Spotify expands AI remix and covers project with Merlin partnership
Spotify is expanding its AI-driven remix and covers project by partnering with Merlin, a licensing network representing over 30,000 independent labels. The feature aims to allow fans to create interactive music content with artist consent and compensation.
Why it matters
This move represents a significant shift in how streaming platforms integrate generative AI, focusing on legal frameworks and artist compensation rather than fully synthetic content.
During its second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Spotify again teased the upcoming release of a new product that will allow music fans to leverage AI to make covers and remixes of artists’ music, with the artists’ consent.
The company also announced that Merlin, a licensing partner for independent labels and distributors, has now joined Universal Music Group (UMG) on the new AI music effort. The deal brings more than 30,000 labels from Merlin’s network to the product, which will allow fan-made covers and remixes by artists who agree to participate.
Spotify has positioned its AI music product as being significantly different from the more controversial AI music startups that have been used to create fully artificial songs. Instead, Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström told investors on Tuesday’s call that the company’s AI music product will be about “real artists, not fake artists.”
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