As AI-generated artistes and tracks continue to flood music streaming platforms, Spotify is rolling out a new Verified by Spotify badge to help listeners more easily identify authentic human artistes.

The badge — a light green checkmark alongside Verified by Spotify text — will begin appearing on artiste profiles and in search results over the coming weeks. To qualify, artistes must demonstrate consistent listener engagement over a sustained period, comply with Spotify's platform policies, and show a recognisable presence beyond the app, including concert listings, merchandise, and linked social media accounts. Profiles that primarily represent AI-generated personas are not eligible at launch.

Crucially, Spotify is prioritising artistes with genuine fan interest and meaningful contributions to music culture. Verification is carried out through a combination of automated signals and human review, with the aim of identifying artistes acting in good faith, not simply weeding out bad actors.

At launch, more than 99 per cent of artistes actively searched for on the platform will be verified, covering hundreds of thousands of independent and mainstream acts across genres, career stages, and geographies. The absence of a badge doesn't indicate a profile has been flagged — given the sheer scale of the platform, reviews will continue on an ongoing basis.

Alongside the badge, Spotify is testing a new information panel across all artiste profiles — verified or not — surfacing career milestones, release activity, and touring history. Think of it as a nutritional label for artistes: a quick snapshot of authentic platform activity for those who haven't yet met the full verification criteria.

These updates are part of Spotify's efforts to address the growing problem of AI-generated content and impersonation on its platform. Last month, the company began beta testing an Artiste Profile Protection feature, allowing artistes to review releases before they go live on their profiles — giving them greater control over which tracks are associated with their name. The feature arrived just weeks after Sony Music requested the removal of more than 135,000 AI-generated songs impersonating its artistes across streaming services.

The scale of the problem is significant. Rival platform Deezer recently revealed that AI-generated tracks now account for 44 per cent of all new music uploaded to its platform daily — a figure that underscores just how urgently the industry needs reliable tools to separate genuine artistry from automated content.