AI music is without a doubt the most controversial topic in the music industry right now. There are those who feel it takes away creativity and authenticity from music. And on the flip side, there are those who argue it is the future and breaks down barriers to entry. Put the two camps together and there's a whole bunch of conflict.
Over the years, I've tried to avoid taking sides. My efforts have been around disclosure, detection, and respecting preferences. To that end, I've developed an AI detector that's pretty much the best one out there. Even though nearly 1 in 3 AI creators conceal their use of AI, our curators can confidently say "I don't want AI music" - and we'll make sure that almost none comes their way.
A "DSP" is a "Digital Service Provider." These include Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Deezer, etc.
They seem to have mostly been waiting for someone else to decide. A handful have taken action: Deezer rolled out their own AI detector and started flagging content, removing them from algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists. Tidal has done the same (though their detector is iffy), and Bandcamp outright banned AI.
Spotify meanwhile have mostly stayed out of it. When pushed in Feb of 2026, Spotify’s co-CEO and Chief Product & Technology Officer Gustav Söderström said:
"Spotify should not decide what kind of tools you’re allowed to use… Are you allowed to use an electric guitar, a synthesizer, a digital audio workstation, or AI…? We don’t think it’s our decision to make."
He then said Spotify's role is more about transparency, so listeners can understand what tools were used to create a track.
Turns out, there's been enough backlash that they're taking action.
In April, Spotify attempted a "Verified by Spotify" badge. Unfortunately, you need at least 10,000 monthly active listeners for 3 consecutive months, plus 1,000 followers, to qualify. Not an easy ask for an indie artist! On top of that, there appears to be a massive backlog of requests to be verified, as well as inconsistency to the tagging (I've seen artists get a badge with only 500 monthly listeners). We all thought this would be their way of distinguishing human from AI, but it seems half baked at best.
Then, in August of 2026, Spotify announced a new "AI Persona" label that would be attached to artist profiles. The important part:
By default, Spotify will not include AI Personas in any editorial or algorithmic recommendations. That means you won’t see any music from AI Personas in your personalized recommendations, unless you follow AI Personas.
Unfortunately, there's been a whole lot of confusion about how a real artist goes about getting branded as "real."
I sympathize with them. It's not easy rolling out a change at this scale. Hopefully they can sort it all out soon.
Yes. They did. Andrew Southworth did a good YouTube video about it.
Unfortunately, whatever Spotify changed recently appears to be affecting more than just AI music. And that sucks. But it's not why I'm writing this article, so I won't dwell on it.
What matters here is that Spotify has drawn a line in the digital sand, and AI music is now being pushed out of recommendations.
Because our job at SubmitHub is to create connections and ultimately help artists get heard, it feels wrong for us to suggest that AI artists use our product if it's never going to work.
Of course, blocking "pure AI" begs the question: where do we draw the line?
To answer that, I dug into some SubmitHub numbers from the last 2 months:
I sampled cuts at 75%, 90%, 95%... but based on the above numbers, I've decided to implement a cutoff at 85% likely to be AI.
Will we sometimes get this wrong? It's possible. Our AI detector is good - it's 99.4% accurate, according to a 3rd party. Even if it's wrong once in a blue moon, the fact that we're picking it up at 85%+ likely AI means there's a pretty good chance Spotify is also identifying it as AI. Which means your chances of triggering their algorithm probably aren't great, and it'd be wrong of us to sell you a promotion package.
We are, of course, aware that a lot of *real* artists are using AI to help with their songwriting and production process. Spotify hasn't exactly clarified where they're drawing the line, but I assume it's mostly with what people call "AI slop" - content produced entirely on Suno or Treblo, then uploaded straight to DSPs.
I expect this to be a bit messy at first. As with most things, I'll launch, solicit feedback, and iterate at a rapid pace.
Probably? Who knows. It's a rapidly evolving space, and I'm trying to keep up with it. The most-likely number to change in the near future is the 85% cutoff.
This isn't a dig at people using AI. As mentioned at the start, each side has their own valid arguments, and each believes strongly that they are right. We're actually "cutting off" 10% of our revenue stream here, so this decision goes counter to traditional business logic.
At the end of the day, we as a team have decided that we want to build a platform that actually *helps* people promote their music. And if the algorithm means AI creators can't achieve that, we're wrong to sell a service that claims to provide it.