Spotify administrators confused after new AI-generated song by deceased singer released without permission
There have been cases where unreleased works of artists have been discovered and released after their deaths, but there have been cases where new AI-generated songs have been distributed on Spotify as if they were sung by a deceased singer. In one case, however, the person in charge of managing the music did not give permission, creating a mysterious situation where it is unclear why this happened.
Spotify Publishers AI-Generated Songs From Dead Artists Without Permission
According to the news site 404 Media, the song in question is 'Together.' It was distributed as a song by country singer Blaze Foley, who died in 1989, but Craig McDonald of Lost Art Records, which manages the song, said, 'If you're a Foley fan, you can tell right away that it's not a Foley song. It's not in Foley's style.'
Blaze Foley | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/artist/1TlScGwN8MmIZ7kIYGjSZA
On Spotify, the artwork for 'Together' was shown to be of someone who bore no resemblance to the artist himself.
'Spotify has contacted SoundOn, the content distributor, and has removed the song for violating their content policies,' the release said.
SoundOn, the alleged distributor, is a music distribution service provided by TikTok that allows users to earn royalties by uploading music primarily to TikTok, but also to other platforms. 404 Media reported that SoundOn was not available for comment on the matter.
SoundOn - TikTok music digital distribution and promotion service
Regarding the situation where songs that were not uploaded by administrators, especially AI-generated songs, are being distributed as artists' songs without their consent, McDonald points out, 'The problem is that security vulnerabilities have not been fixed, and Spotify bears all the responsibility.'
In addition, the song page for 'Together' had a copyright notice under the name 'Syntax Error,' so 404 Media investigated and found that a similar AI-generated song called 'Happend To You' by Guy Clark, a country singer who died in 2016, had also been registered with a copyright notice under the name Syntax Error. After 404 Media inquired, that song was also removed from Spotify.
On the other hand, the song 'with you' by Dan Burke, an active singer-songwriter based in New York, also has a copyright notice of Syntax Error. In Burke's songs, the copyright notice for 'with you' registered on July 14, 2025, and 'Always' registered on July 7, 2025, is '© 2025 Syntax Error', and the copyright notice for the song 'One Last Time' registered on June 6, 2025, which uses artwork that can be confirmed as Burke himself, is '© 2025 Tristar Records Limited distributed by Tristar Records'.
with you - 'Single' by Dan Berk | Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/album/6igGAFAdT7JSa6kKYvDIf6
404 Media was unable to reach Burke for comment, but a deepfake expert said the track 'has a higher than normal probability of being AI-generated.'
By the way, there have already been confirmed cases of AI-generated songs being distributed on Spotify that appear to be songs by real artists, and as of November 2024, a metalcore band was targeted.
in Web Service, Posted by logc_nt