Spotify is plowing ahead with its latest AI venture — a tool that enables fans to remix their favorite tracks — and more and more records labels are signing on.
Merlin, a prominent digital rights agency, is the latest large entity to support the fan remix plan. Merlin represents thousands of independent labels which collectively represent some 15% of global market share. Among Merlin’s clients are !K7, Stones Throw, Armada and Warp. Universal Music Group (UMG) was the first large label conglomerate to sign on to the plan back in May.
The remix tool is being marketed as a “paid add-on” to Spotify’s premium subscription plans. The company describes it as a “new way [for fans] to engage with music they love.” Artists can opt-out of the scheme and I sure hope listeners can too, though Spotify’s claim that the feature will “drive discovery” suggests that might not be the case. It’s not clear what will happen with artists who no longer control their music. It’s also not clear how many fans would pay more money to make their own arguably worse versions of their favorite songs, though Spotify has proven adept at bundling features into subscription tiers while progressively hiking monthly subscription fees.
Labels like UMG and those represented by Merlin appear to have been sold on the AI generated remix tool with the lure of additional royalties. Claiming the revenue from unlicensed remixes has long been a problem for rights-holders, and Spotify is offering to cut them in on a remix platform from its inception. Merlin CEO Charlie Lexton praised “Spotify’s respect for our members’ and their artists’ rights” as “exemplary.” He called the decision to sign on to the scheme “an easy one.”
For Spotify, the main appeal of the remix tool appears to be a symptom of the fever they share with the rest of the tech industry to jam as much AI into their app as humanly possible. At its 4th quarter earnings call, Spotify’s co-CEOs dubbed their company as the “R&D department for the music industry.”
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