THE CRUNCH
Deezer is working on a toggle that will let listeners filter AI-generated music out of their streaming experience entirely, with the feature expected before the end of the year. Once switched on, it will hide AI-generated tracks, albums and related artists from search results. CEO Alexis Lanternier said the company had seen clear user demand for the option, pointing to a survey from last year in which around 45% of Deezer customers wanted a way to remove AI music from their feeds.
The scale of the problem explains the urgency. Deezer added AI-detection tooling last year, when AI-generated tracks made up 10% of daily uploads. By July, the company said more than 50% of daily uploads were AI-generated, out of an average of 90,000 tracks uploaded per day in total. Lanternier described the explosion of AI music on the platform as one of the catalysts for the new feature.
Deezer is not alone in grappling with the flood. Bandcamp has banned AI tracks outright, Tidal has cut off monetisation for people uploading them, and Spotify has taken a lighter touch, tagging AI tracks and artists more prominently. According to a Variety report in August, Apple Music was looking to label AI tracks by the end of the year. Some listeners are also turning to independent tracking systems to spot AI music on their own.