Spotify, one of the world’s largest music streaming services, is reportedly set to reach one billion global users by the middle of 2027. The news follows the company’s Q1 2023 quarterly earnings report which confirmed that Spotify’s monthly active user (MAU) count hit 515 million at the end of March, up by 26 million quarter-on-quarter. This marks the second biggest increase in Spotify’s history, after Q4 2022, when it added 33 million MAUs. The report also revealed that Spotify is taking concerns about the impact of AI-generated music on entertainment rights holders seriously.
According to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, the firm’s AI DJ has had nothing but positive reactions from across the industry. However, Ek recognizes the issues and concerns that the wider AI conversation has regarding copyright, especially in light of the recent controversy surrounding the use of AI in music. Ek confirmed that Spotify is working with its partners to establish a position that will allow innovation while protecting all of the creators that it has on its platform.
This is in response to takedown notices sent by Universal Music Group to streaming partners, including Spotify, in March. The notice states that “certain AI systems might have been trained on copyrighted content without obtaining the required consents from, or paying compensation to, the rightsholders who own or produce the content”. Universal Music Group had been issuing takedown notices “left and right” against AI-generated tracks that infringed on copyright.
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