Spotify will begin labeling AI-generated artist profiles with an ‘AI Persona‘ badge and will exclude their music from its editorial and algorithmic recommendations, the company announced. The badges will start appearing on artist profiles in mid-September. Once labeled, an AI Persona badge shows on the profile banner, the About section, in Search, and on track rows across playlists. By default, AI Personas will not be included in editorial or algorithmic recommendations, nor in users’ personalized recommendations, unless the user explicitly follows the artist. Following an artist is treated as an explicit signal that the user wants to hear more from that artist.

Spotify says it will not rely on self-disclosure alone. It will also review artist profiles to identify those where the artist’s name and imagery appear to represent photorealistic AI-generated identities. The review will begin with profiles that have met pre-defined audience thresholds, ensuring the more listened-to artists are covered first. Artists can appeal an incorrectly applied AI Persona label, and in the coming months Spotify will roll out a tool that lets users report artist profiles that appear to be unlabeled AI Personas.

The move is the latest expansion of Spotify‘s AI policies, first announced in September 2025, which already identified and labeled AI music using industry-standard techniques and banned unauthorized AI voice clones and deepfakes. Spotify frames the badge as a judgment about the artist’s public identity, not about the music itself. In its announcement, the company said: ‘while we believe all artists have creative choice in determining how they present themselves, Spotify‘s programming is focused on elevating music from authentic artists building careers in music.’ It added: ‘Although there’s a broad spectrum in how artists use AI as a creative tool, the question of whether a profile represents an actual human is one where Spotify can help make a clear determination. This badge is about the artist’s public identity, not about how the music was made.’ Information about the music’s production will continue to be available through features like AI Credits and SongDNA.

The policy reflects Spotify‘s effort to balance its own AI-driven products—Prompted Playlists, AI DJ, chat, and forthcoming AI remixes—against the flood of low-quality AI-generated content that has become easier to mass produce. Spotify warns that allowing such ‘slop’ to proliferate could lead to a poor user experience and subscription cancellations. The AI Persona labels will also help users distinguish between AI Personas and the AI-generated remixes and covers that Spotify will soon permit under licensing deals with UMG and Merlin. Those deals allow fan-made remixes and covers while funneling royalties back to participating artists. Artists will be able to self-disclose as an AI Persona starting August 11, 2026, through Spotify for Artists.