AI hits music industry Streaming giant responds: AI is both cool and scary

April 26 - Faced with the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the music industry, Daniel Ek, CEO of Swedish streaming music giant Spotify, believes AI is a technology that is both cool and scary.

Spotify CEO Ek

Spotify today reported first quarter earnings, with monthly active users reaching 515 million, up 22 percent year-over-year and 15 million more than the company's internal expectations, the highest first quarter growth in its history. Paid subscribers, Spotify's most lucrative user group, grew 15 percent to 210 million in the first quarter, also exceeding the company's expectations. However, weakness in the advertising business caused Spotify's revenue to fall short of expectations.

Ek is understood to have discussed the potential impact of AI with analysts and investors during the earnings call. He said, "I don't think I've ever seen anything like this in the tech space. People are using AI to do things that are both cool and scary, and the pace of innovation and progress is so fast."

Last week, a song called "Heart on My Sleeve" went viral online. The song uses generative AI technology to replicate the vocals of rappers Drake and The Weeknd. It reached 600,000 plays on Spotify, and other versions appeared on YouTube and TikTok. Subsequently, Universal Music Group filed a copyright infringement complaint against it, causing it to be taken down from streaming music platforms. Universal Music said the generative AI was trained to use its artists' songs in violation of service agreements and copyright laws, and said streaming platforms have a "legal and moral responsibility to prevent their services from being used in ways that harm artists.

In response, Ek said the company is trying to strike a balance between allowing platforms to innovate and protecting artists' copyrighted works. He also added that AI may assist in creating more music, which would benefit Spotify.

He also discussed the company's role in supporting artists' original work. "We take very, very seriously the role of guardian, artist creativity, and the support that we provide to artists and creators." Eck stated.