Spotify accused of allowing AI song to late singer’s profile who was murdered in 1989
Spotify has been accused of allowing an AI song to be uploaded to the profile of Blaze Foley, a country singer who was murdered in 1989.
According to 404 Media, a new track called ‘Together’ appeared on the singer’s page last week, which sounded distinctly different to the style of his other songs, including ‘Clay Pigeons’.
The report claims the artwork for the song also appeared to be AI-generated. It depicts a man singing into a microphone, even though he looks nothing like Foley did.
Craig McDonald, the manager of Foley’s music and Spotify page, responded to the incident by saying: “I can clearly tell you that this song is not Blaze, not anywhere near Blaze’s style, at all,” noting that he did not grant permission for an AI impersonation of the singer to be done. “It’s kind of an AI schlock bot, if you will,” he added.
Taking aim at Spotify’s protocols in the case, McDonald continued: “It’s harmful to Blaze’s standing that this happened. It’s kind of surprising that Spotify doesn’t have a security fix for this type of action, and I think the responsibility is all on Spotify. They could fix this problem.”
Becoming the latest to criticise Spotify’s AI practices, he said: “One of their talented software engineers could stop this fraudulent practice in its tracks, if they had the will to do so. And I think they should take that responsibility and do something quickly.”
Spotify has now responded to the incident and removed the song ‘Together’ from its platform, saying it had been “removed for violating our Deceptive Content policy.” It confirmed that SoundOn, a company owned by TikTok, was responsible for uploading the track to the streamer.
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