Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI • Hacker News Board

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#191

Post by vintermann » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:36 PM UTC

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

It's not that simple, I think. Music, literature, even photos and software sometimes, are interesting for their context - someone made them, for you, and they wanted to tell you something. They're interesting because we care about the person on the other end. But if there is no person on the other end, why should I care?

We can argue about this if you want. Long chain of comments back and forth. But ask yourself, if we did that, and it turned out I'd actually not read anything you wrote, instead just turned the whole thing over to a chatbot to argue for me - would it make a difference to you? I think it would.

The text on the screen might well be indistinguishable from whether I did it myself. Just as AI generated music might be indistinguishable one day, if not already. But just as you probably wouldn't want to argue with me if I don't even bother to read what you wrote, why should you listen to my music if I didn't even care to listen to it myself?

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#192

Post by vintermann » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:40 PM UTC

gyomu wrote: post #150

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

Heh, people have an interest in other people. Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran or whoever is cool these days are popular because they are real people with real lives and histories that can be related to, followed over time, etc. Of course the music matters, but the persona of who creates the music and their lore matters just as much. There’s a reason why live events are the moneymakers, people care about physicality. No on…

Agreed, and it matters that even the most vapid pop star isn't just a product of our collective (or individual) desires. They're a real person existing for their own sake, and not just for our sake, no matter how much they cater to us.

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#193

Post by ShyCodeGardener » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:42 PM UTC

senko wrote: post #98

kotaKat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's every move Spotify has done recently. Podcasts, audiobooks, AI music, and now an entire fitness hub - they really don't want to pay actual artists anything for their music while jacking up prices for everyone else. (Oh, and sitting back and crying "app fairness" for quite some time, but it's odd that they haven't been complaining about Apple in a hot minute in the DSA fight yet still won't ship long overdue su…

You're right on what they're doing, but not the why: 1. They're getting the short end of the deal with music licensing (as are artists, btw) 2. They can't pay the artists more: the vast majority of the money goes to labels 3. The only way Spotify can grow profits if it moves to content that's not under the iron grip of the labels: podcasts, audiobooks, etc. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47783435

You're forgetting:

4. Once Spotify wrests power from the labels, they start the enshitification process themselves.

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#194

Post by cowsup » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:44 PM UTC

vintermann wrote: post #191

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

It's not that simple, I think. Music, literature, even photos and software sometimes, are interesting for their context - someone made them, for you, and they wanted to tell you something. They're interesting because we care about the person on the other end. But if there is no person on the other end, why should I care? We can argue about this if you want. Long chain of comments back and forth. But ask yourself, if…

I think there's a difference between music that people will cherish for decades to come, and music that will sell in the short-term. This isn't even me being an "old man yelling at cloud," you can look at what was charting in the 80s-90s and recognize some songs, but others just got lost to time. They were fine, but they weren't special.

AI music will fill the gap. The "song of the summer," the latest TikTok trend, and music that plays for department store ads, will be produced and distributed by labels, without the need of a particular artist whose image they have to worry about. How many times have labels, who invested a lot of time and money into artists, had to deal with the artist having an episode or scandal? AI eliminates that risk.

I think trying to avoid AI music will be like trying to avoid auto-tune, or digital instruments, or people mixing tracks in ways that are impossible to replicate with real-world instruments in real-time. It'll be common at first, harder later, and impossible/silly in the future.

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#195

Post by vintermann » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:48 PM UTC

grokys wrote: post #95

I do wonder why AI music is so lame. Every previous technological advancement in music produced amazing new sounds and styles but AI music seems to just be emulating lowest common denominator pop sludge. Where's the Bruce Haack or Kraftwerk of AI? Surely there's a previously unimaginable sound palette out there that we could be pulling from. Why is it all so BAD?

I don't know about music, but there are plenty of pioneers of AI art who were pretty interesting in my opinion. Mario Klingemann, Tom White, Memo Akten and Samim Winiger are some names I remember who made a lot of cool stuff. I admit I haven't kept up at what they're doing today, though (maybe because I left Twitter, and I think many of them did too).

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#196

Post by troosevelt » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:49 PM UTC

vintermann wrote: post #191

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

It's not that simple, I think. Music, literature, even photos and software sometimes, are interesting for their context - someone made them, for you, and they wanted to tell you something. They're interesting because we care about the person on the other end. But if there is no person on the other end, why should I care? We can argue about this if you want. Long chain of comments back and forth. But ask yourself, if…

People generally listen to music because they enjoy it. Is it because somebody is on the other end? I mean it's possible, but I think just liking the song is just as much if not more important.

You pretty regularly see comments by people that say they enjoy a song until they find out it was generated. That tells me it's not about the music but about something they believe about generated music.

Why do you suggest that people generating music aren't listening to it?

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#197

Post by troosevelt » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:50 PM UTC

sevenzero wrote: post #190

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

Anti AI sentiment regarding arts is the only correct sentiment. Art is about human expression which AI can never achieve.

That's a very gatekeepy standard for something which has for all of history been a subjective thing. What I think will fall by the wayside are dogmatic takes like these.

If I gen up then curate a bunch of tracks into a concept album, why is that not art?

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#198

Post by lukajk » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:52 PM UTC

vintermann wrote: post #191

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

It's not that simple, I think. Music, literature, even photos and software sometimes, are interesting for their context - someone made them, for you, and they wanted to tell you something. They're interesting because we care about the person on the other end. But if there is no person on the other end, why should I care? We can argue about this if you want. Long chain of comments back and forth. But ask yourself, if…

AI writing, music, art is still extremely derivative. Unless that changes we will still need humans that provide the interesting aspects. If AI facilitates certain things the way that more powerful DAWs or raster graphics programs do then it's fundamentally no different

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#199

Post by amiga386 » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:57 PM UTC

gyomu wrote: post #150

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

Heh, people have an interest in other people. Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran or whoever is cool these days are popular because they are real people with real lives and histories that can be related to, followed over time, etc. Of course the music matters, but the persona of who creates the music and their lore matters just as much. There’s a reason why live events are the moneymakers, people care about physicality. No on…

I think you're conflating two things: fictional characters/personas, and attributing "music" to them.

People go wild for characters all the time, whether they be Batman, Pikachu, Colombo, Dora the Explorer, whatever -- have you ever seen Nyango Star drumming? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UYgORr5Qhg -- not to mention the entire VTuber scene, where people build the same weird parasocial relationships as other YouTubers do, but hiding behing an animated avatar and voice changer.

Hatsune is an odd one in that she's a character whose "voice" is a set of parameters for a vocal VST (Vocaloid) that you can plug into your DAW and have a synthesized singer along with your synthesized piano, drums, guitar, etc. But for whatever reason, the Japanese loved the character, so they rolled with it and you can now make 3D videos with the character as well as having her singing.

More to the point, the Gorillaz are a full touring band of VTubers, even though the people behind the animated masks are themselves pretty famous already. They have fans, including deranged ones that can't seem to separate the fictional cartoon characters from real people and imagine themselves as Murdoc's wife.

This goes back a long way, I was thinking Josie and the Pussycats, but Wikipedia reminds me that Alvin and the Chipmunks is probably the first.

It also makes me think of ABBA and their "ABBA experience", where they've "digitized" themselves. What it really is is wish-fulfilment and nostalgia; their fans, themselves in their 60s/70s, are thinking of their youth 50 years ago, and the actual members of ABBA also look 70 and not 20 anymore. So they've made a virtual replica of themselves from when they were in their prime, and you can go and dance to them if you want, while the real ABBA members water their garden and feed their cats at home.

Re: Spotify adds 'Verified' badges to distinguish human artists from AI

#200

Post by lukajk » Fri, May 01, 2026, 9:58 PM UTC

philistine wrote: post #167

jameslk wrote: post #140

I might be in the minority, but I think this anti-AI sentiment is going to be generational. The next AI-native generation to grow up creating AI music, photos, videos, literature, code, etc will think it's silly why the older generation is so appalled at what they created and resistant to using AI to do it I'm not placing a value judgement either way, but I do think there will be a divide in the ways things are done…

Why should the young kids pay 20-30-40 dollars a month for Spotify to listen to AI-made music when you can make your own AI-made music with but a prompt from a free tier? The fact is, AI is a thermonuclear device that everybody has at their disposal. That changes the power dynamics completely, and it is incorrect to believe we will maintain our exact commercial relationships but + AI.

If nothing else, to have a shared experience with other people. A lot of the value for people is derived from the fact that they can talk about the same song with someone else. If it's all individualized you lose that.

Also assumes all AI music will have perfect execution and there is no distinction between any of it outside of personal preference, otherwise there is a reason to pay to listen to something else that is higher quality than what you can make