Sony Music Targets 260K AI Deepfake Tracks

Sony Music has asked streaming platforms to remove more than 260,000 AI-generated deepfake songs by the end of September, a significant surge from previous months. The company flagged 135,000 tracks in March and nearly 10,000 in November 2023.

Sony Music states these deepfakes illegally imitate its artists' voices and likenesses, harming creators and misleading fans. The company described the situation as AI's proliferation happening at scale, damaging artists, deceiving fans, and undermining ethical AI use. Artists like Harry Styles, Adele, Britney Spears, Queen, and Michael Jackson are among those whose styles have been mimicked.

Sony Music vows to continue protecting its artists' rights, expecting platforms to act swiftly against re-uploads. The company acknowledges this challenge is growing increasingly difficult.

Dennis Kooker, president of global digital business at Sony Music Entertainment, previously noted that demand drives the deepfake issue, capitalizing on artists' popularity. Scammers also use AI to produce tracks en masse and then employ bots to inflate stream counts. Industry executives estimate streaming fraud could cost the music industry $2.2 billion annually, with Kooker suggesting 5% to 10% of streams may be fraudulent.

In response, Sony Music, alongside Universal and Warner, supports the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) Streaming Integrity Initiative, launched last month to combat streaming fraud. Sony Music also advocates for the NO FAKES Act, a proposed federal law establishing a legal right in a person’s voice and visual likeness. This aims to address the current legal ambiguity where cloning an artist’s voice does not clearly constitute copyright infringement under U.S. law. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the NO FAKES Act on June 18.