97% of listeners can't spot AI-generated songs, survey finds

A new survey, conducted by polling firm Ipsos for the streaming service Deezer, has revealed that 97% of listeners cannot tell the difference between songs created by AI and those composed by humans.

The study polled 9,000 people across eight countries, including the US, UK, and France. About 71% of respondents expressed surprise at their own inability to identify AI-generated music.

According to a Reuters report on the matter, the findings represent a significant challenge for the global music industry as AI tools capable of producing songs in seconds become more prevalent. Deezer reported that over 50,000 tracks uploaded to its platform daily are entirely AI-generated, accounting for roughly one-third of all new submissions.

The issue gained public attention earlier this year when an AI band called The Velvet Sundown amassed around one million monthly listeners on Spotify before its synthetic origins were widely known.

In response, Deezer has begun tagging AI music to promote transparency. The company's CEO, Alexis Lanternier, stated that the company believes human creativity should be protected, says the Reuters report, adding that he acknowledged creating a different payment structure for AI music is complex, but confirmed that Deezer already excludes fake streams from royalty calculations.