"Is Spotify enabling impersonation of famous jazz artists?"

[ghost of miles]

Spoiler: Sure seems that way (and not the first time I've read about AI slop proliferating on the platform)

I finally opened a Spotify account last year, but most musicians I've talked to about streaming favor Apple, saying that the audio quality and musician compensation is better. (Apple's basic monthly streaming service cost is also two dollars cheaper than Spotify's.) I have no illusions about Apple being any kind of paragon of corporate virtue ("corporate" and "virtue" are pretty much antithetical anyway. Corporations are out to make money, period, and making even more money will always trump--er, win out over any kind of greater good), but do other posters have an opinion about the pros and cons of each service? Or others that are available?

[Ken Dryden]

I have no use for Spotify, period. They need to be sued into bankruptcy for false labeling of bad music that is likely AI-created slop. The fact that they don't require sufficient data to verify the music made available is legitimate is inexcusable.

[Dub Modal]

Spotify seems to have veered head on into gray-area ethics for the bottom line. Sucks because they have a better platform than Apple Music - but definitely poorer sound quality. But to me they both kind of suck for discovering new music which was surprising to me. The algorithms get pushy with the same suggestions over and over again. If you're after more discovery, I'd rec using Bandcamp. Stream-wise it's pricier than the other two with no audiobooks, no podcasts, etc. But it seems to be the most artist-friendly at the moment...?

[JSngry]

...enabling impersonation of famous jazz artists...

Wow, when did this begin?

[Aggie87]

It's all over youtube as well, though at least some of it seems to be attributed to AI, and doesn't pretend to actually be the artist.

Here's Freddie Mercury singing a song that didn't exist until after he passed away.

 

[Rabshakeh]

Forgetting impersonation, I have started getting suggestions for AI prompted playlists. 

They are... insufferable.

Here is an example (best viewed pre-shower, because you will want to wash yourself after):

"Kitchen Contribution

Prompted by Spotify

Generate

Songs for watching someone cook while you bring playful, flirty, and slightly smug vibes.

Prompt

Make me a playlist for watching someone cook for you, because I don't cook - like, at all. My only job is to bring the vibes, and the music better make up for the fact that I can't boil water. It should sound playful, flirty, and a little smug. Focus on songs you think I would like."

And this is the garbage that it generated.

Substantially worse than any algorithmically generated playlist. 

And there are lots of these.

[Guy Berger]

On 3/9/2026 at 2:18 PM, ghost of miles said:

Spoiler: Sure seems that way (and not the first time I've read about AI slop proliferating on the platform)

I finally opened a Spotify account last year, but most musicians I've talked to about streaming favor Apple, saying that the audio quality and musician compensation is better. (Apple's basic monthly streaming service cost is also two dollars cheaper than Spotify's.) I have no illusions about Apple being any kind of paragon of corporate virtue ("corporate" and "virtue" are pretty much antithetical anyway. Corporations are out to make money, period, and making even more money will always trump--er, win out over any kind of greater good), but do other posters have an opinion about the pros and cons of each service? Or others that are available?

So reading this, it seems mostly a nuisance and I don’t get why people are getting really mad about it (rather than just mildly annoyed)

Lets say something comes on that pretends to be Nat Adderley but is obviously not him… you can just skip the track!

Fwiw, I strongly agree Spotify should stop this kind of thing

Edited March 17 by Guy Berger

[Stompin at the Savoy]

I'm perfectly ok with Spotify. You have to register and establish an ID and password but it's free and there is no obligation to subscribe to anything or receive emails, etc.  I never use it to scout out new things to listen to.  I use it to find and listen to an album I can't find on youtube.  Both of them suck because of advertisements but they are better than listening to radio for my purpose because I can choose the albums and tunes to play.  For discovery of music new to me I will sometimes click on recordings that come up alongside whatever I'm playing on youtube but mostly I just read this forum.  Generally I use these services to listen to an album before buying - my music budget is limited.  

[Ken Dryden]

If you’re an artist and fake music supposedly by you is streaming, you have a right to be pissed off.

The other thing is that these fake tracks are being programmed by bots to be played repeatedly in order to increase their share of the overall royalty pool.

 

 

[Stompin at the Savoy]

58 minutes ago, Ken Dryden said:

If you’re an artist and fake music supposedly by you is streaming, you have a right to be pissed off.

The other thing is that these fake tracks are being programmed by bots to be played repeatedly in order to increase their share of the overall royalty pool.

 

 

Good points.  That sounds like fraud. 

Spotify and youtube are a mixed blessing but I suspect they are still a blessing to the artist, because the services make their music available to the general public.  If you want to check somebody out used to be you had to listen to the radio till their songs came up.  Now you can go find works by the artist, listen, and if you like it, buy the album.  True, millions of people are putting stuff up on youtube so it's harder to stand out than it once was.  It's a different world and this is a pretty big part  of how music is distributed nowadays.