As much as 70% of streams for artificial intelligence-generated music on Deezer are fraudulent, according to a new report from the streaming platform.
While AI-made songs account for only 0.5% of total streams on Deezer, the company found that the majority of those plays are part of a scheme to exploit royalty payments.
Fraudsters use bots to artificially inflate streams of AI-generated tracks, allowing them to collect revenue from platforms like Deezer and Spotify. By spreading fake listens across many songs, they avoid detection.
Thibault Roucou, Deezer’s director of royalties, called it an organized effort to profit from streaming payouts. “As long as there’s money in fraudulent streaming, people will try to exploit it,” he said.
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Deezer has already deployed tools to detect AI content from models like Udio and Suno to block payouts for songs with suspicious streams. The platform revealed in April that AI-generated tracks make up 18% of daily uploads (around 20,000 songs) but they are excluded from algorithmic recommendations to curb potential abuse.
The global streaming market, worth $20.4 billion in 2024, is a lucrative target for fraud. Last year, U.S. musician Michael Smith was charged in a scheme involving billions of fake streams of AI-made songs, netting $10 million in royalties.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) warns that fraudulent streaming steals revenue from legitimate artists.
To help consumers identify AI-generated content across their platform, Deezer launched the world’s first AI music tagging system.
Via: The Guardian