Link: Not even Spotify is safe from AI slop

I first noticed a problem when a strangely designed HEALTH album appeared on Spotify, clearly not theirs. This was just one of three fake albums uploaded that weekend under their name.

The band joked about it on social media, and soon the albums were removed, returning my attention back to normal. But the following weekend, a dubious Annie album surfaced, which seemed plausible initially yet turned out to be completely unrelated music.

Disturbed by these incidents, I shared my frustrations in a group chat, learning that many artists were facing similar issues. Particularly targeted were artists with single-word names, like Swans and Gong, where fake albums would pop up and, at times, not be pulled down.

Marcos Mena of Standards, despite reporting to Spotify, found the fake album stubbornly fixed on their profile for days. Spotify deals with these disruptions by relying heavily on distributors, yet this system is proving to be flawed.

Album fraud not only misleads fans but diverts royalties away from the rightful artists, deeply impacting their earnings and exposure. Oddly named labels appear to profit off these scams, with fake labels like Gupta Music reaping benefits from deceptive uploads.

While Spotify claims to commit to preventing these scams, the problem points to broader systemic issues within digital music distribution. Such issues compromise artist rights and the authenticity of music, raising the urgent need for more stringent controls. #

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Yoooo, this is a quick note on a link that made me go, WTF? Find all past links here.