French streaming platform Deezer is now taking a bold step in the music world: flagging tracks that are fully generated by artificial intelligence. The company announced this move as part of a broader effort to protect human artists and maintain fairness in royalty distribution.
According to CEO Alexis Lanternier, this marks a global first for music streaming services. While AI-generated songs won’t be removed from the platform, they will be demonetised—meaning they won’t earn royalties—so as not to compete financially with music created by real artists.
Deezer revealed that it currently sees a staggering influx of AI tracks—around 20,000 per day as of April, accounting for nearly 18% of all new uploads. Most of these songs are created using text-to-music tools like Suno and Udio.
To tackle this rising trend, Deezer has developed its own in-house detection system. This tool scans audio files and identifies telltale digital fingerprints that AI systems leave behind—imperceptible to the human ear, but clearly visible in the audio signal. The company says this tool boasts an impressive 98% accuracy rate.
Albums that include suspected AI-generated songs are now labeled with a clear warning: “Content generated by AI.” It’s a step meant to bring transparency to listeners and support musicians whose livelihoods depend on fair streaming revenue.
While Spotify—Deezer’s much larger rival with over 268 million users globally—has partnered with major labels to improve artist compensation, it hasn’t yet taken the same stance on AI content. Spotify cites the absence of a universal definition for AI music and a lack of legal boundaries as reasons for holding back.
With 9.7 million subscribers, Deezer may be smaller in scale, but its latest move sets a precedent in the ongoing conversation about how the music industry should adapt to the rise of artificial intelligence.
