- 34% of new music on Deezer is generated with AI
- 97% of listeners can’t distinguish between AI music and human-created tracks
- Where does it end and what needs to be implemented to stop the decline?
If you’ve been listening to new music recently and thought it sounds a little soulless, there’s a good chance you weren’t imagining it.
According to new data from streaming service Deezer, 34% of all new music uploaded to the platform is now generated entirely with AI. There are more than 50,000 tracks created by AI that are uploaded every day.
If you thought that was bad, what’s more disturbing is that almost no one can detect it: Deezer also commissioned a study showing that 97% of people “can’t tell” the difference between AI and human-made music.
An avalanche of AI music
Deezer’s research was carried out using blind tests in eight countries, where the overwhelming majority of people failed to identify which tracks were generated by AI, even when they actively tried to do so.
That avalanche of synthetic songs is being driven by the ease of use of artificial intelligence music tools. You no longer need a band, a studio or even much musical knowledge. With an AI app like Suno, a message, and a few clicks, you can now produce tracks that are good enough to pass as human work, at least to most ears.
While AI music is everywhere in terms of uploads, it barely registers when it comes to actually listening to it. Deezer says that fully AI-generated tracks account for around 0.5% of total streams, suggesting that listeners still gravitate towards music made by real artists, even if they can’t always say why.
Where does this end?
That gap between volume and popularity hasn’t stopped concern from spreading throughout the industry. In the same study, around 80% of people said AI-generated music should be clearly labeled on streaming platforms. Many were also concerned about the impact on artists’ livelihoods, particularly when it comes to AI models trained on copyrighted music without consent.
The Verge spoke to several musicians, who highlighted their fear of AI taking over the industry, with some calling the situation “Completely unacceptable.”
There is also a growing feeling that AI tracks should not be treated financially in the same way as human ones, with respondents saying payments should be lower for fully synthetic music.
Deezer, for its part, says it is already rolling out tools to detect and tag AI-generated tracks, while filtering out fraudulent streaming activity linked to mass-produced songs. It is a first attempt to prevent platforms from being overwhelmed by content that is cheap to produce but difficult to control.
Still, the most important question remains unresolved. If most people can’t hear the difference, does it even matter who or what made the music?
For now, the industry is hurtling toward a future where AI-powered music is no longer a novelty or gimmick. It’s just part of the background noise. And chances are you’ve already been listening to it without realizing it.
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