Deezer creates tech to detect, delete AI-generated songs

Deezer, the streaming service, says it is building a set of cutting-edge tools to detect and delete music made by artificial intelligence (AI).

The French-owned streamer launched a crackdown on what it has described as “illegal and fraudulent content”.

In recent months, there has been an upsurge in AI-generated music that uses large volumes of existing catalogues to train models and clone the voices of established musicians on projects for onward release via streaming platforms.

This created a copyright dilemma that left music rights owners divided on the ethics and downside of such tools.

Deezer said it will deploy its proprietary Radar technology which can scan catalogues and detect preset signals.

Jeronimo Folgueira, CEO at Deezer, said the company’s new toolset will tag music created with generative AI.

He said the AI-based detector is to begin flagging audio content created with synthetic voices of existing artistes.

“With over 100,000 new tracks uploaded per day to our platform, it’s becoming increasingly important to prioritize quality over quantity and defend real artists that create truly valuable content,” Folgueira said.

“AI can be used to create new incredible content and I believe there are massive benefits of using generative AI, but we need to ensure it’s done in a responsible way.

“There’s an opportunity now to get things right from the start of the AI revolution, and not make the same mistakes as the social media giants did when fake news started to flood their platforms. We owe it to the artists and fans.”

In February, David Guetta, the DJ, used AI to add what is believed to be Eminem’s voice for one of his tracks.

Two months later, a faked duet between Canadian musicians Drake and The Weeknd raised serious concerns.

The alt-pop singer Grimes made her voice available for public use to retain authorship over her music.

Created in 2007, Deezer prides itself as the second-largest independent music streaming platform globally.