Deezer Reports 44% of New Uploads Are AI-Generated; Most Streams Deemed Fraudulent

Music streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube Music have become the dominant platforms for music consumption, offering convenience over traditional album purchases. However, this shift has also created an environment where AI-generated tracks can infiltrate playlists unnoticed. While most streamers do not actively label AI music, Deezer has invested in technology to identify such content.

In a recent update, Deezer announced that AI music now accounts for nearly half of all new uploads. Even more concerning, the majority of streams for these tracks are suspected to be generated by artificial intelligence rather than real listeners.

AI-generated music has grown rapidly in recent years, yet it remains less scrutinized compared to other AI applications. This lack of attention is partly due to its ability to blend seamlessly with human-made music. Deezer’s internal testing revealed that listeners struggle to differentiate between AI and human tracks. In a survey, users were played three songs—two AI-generated and one human-made—yet 97% failed to identify the AI tracks correctly.

To combat this issue, Deezer has developed proprietary technology to detect AI uploads. The platform is one of the few streaming services that explicitly labels AI-generated content. Since generative audio models have become widespread, the volume of AI uploads on Deezer has surged to 44% of all new uploads, equating to approximately 75,000 AI tracks added daily.

Deezer licenses this detection technology to third-party platforms, boasting a false positive rate of less than 0.01%. Despite these efforts, the prevalence of AI-generated streams raises concerns about fraud and the integrity of music charts.