A new Ipsos study shows: 97 percent of listeners do not recognize AI-generated music. But Deezer warns that it is becoming more and more.
Music streaming platforms are increasingly flooded with tracks generated by artificial intelligence. According to Deezer alone, around 50,000 completely AI-generated songs appear every day. In September there were 30,000 – and in April, when the platform introduced its AI recognition software, it was only 10,000. Currently, pieces generated entirely by AI make up around 0.5 percent of all streams on Deezer.
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A recent Ipsos survey shows that most people can’t tell whether a song comes from an AI or a human. The study was conducted in eight countries with 9,000 participants and examined global attitudes towards AI-generated music.
Almost no one recognizes AI-generated music
In a blind listening test, 97 percent of those surveyed could not distinguish between songs completely generated by AI and songs composed by humans. More than half (52 percent) felt uncomfortable about not being able to tell the difference.
Clear labeling required
According to Deezer, the results show clear support for transparency measures: around 80 percent of those surveyed support clear labeling of completely AI-generated music. 73 percent of music streaming users said they wanted to know whether their platform recommends “synthetic” tracks.
An ethical question
Almost three-quarters (73 percent) of survey participants believe it is unethical for AI companies to use copyrighted material to generate new music without the consent of the original artists. 65 percent believe that AI models should not be trained with proprietary material at all.
Many people are also concerned about artists’ livelihoods: 70 percent believe that fully AI-generated music threatens the income of current and future musicians, and 69 percent think that compensation for synthetic songs should be lower than for music created by humans.
The success of AI-generated music is now reaching unimaginable proportions: The song “Walk My Walk” by the band Breaking Rust tops the hit list of country songs with the most digital sales on “Billboard”. The song is an AI creation – and Breaking Rust is, according to Billboard, an “AI-assisted country band”.