Sony Music Demands Removal of 260K AI Deepfake Tracks

Sony Music is intensifying its fight against AI-generated music, demanding streaming platforms remove more than 260,000 deepfake tracks by the end of September. This represents a significant increase from the 135,000 tracks the company identified in March, according to a report published Oct. 5. These unauthorized songs mimic the voices and likenesses of artists like Harry Styles, Adele, Britney Spears, Queen, and Michael Jackson.

Sony Music stated that these deepfake tracks imitate artists' voices and likenesses without permission, occurring at scale and harming artists, misleading fans, and undermining ethical AI use. The company plans to continue enforcing artists' rights and expects platforms to act quickly to prevent the content's re-emergence, acknowledging the challenge is growing.

The rise of these tracks is a major industry concern. In November 2023, Dennis Kooker, president of global digital business at Sony Music Entertainment, reported nearly 10,000 takedown requests. By March 2025, this number exceeded 75,000. Kooker noted that deepfake proliferation is driven by demand, often leveraging artists' active music promotions.

Beyond copyright issues, AI-generated music also fuels streaming fraud. Scammers reportedly use AI to produce tracks en masse and 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 all streams may be fraudulent.

To combat these problems, Sony Music, along with Universal and Warner, supports the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI’s) Streaming Integrity Initiative, launched last month to fight streaming fraud. Sony Music also backs the NO FAKES Act, which would establish a federal right for an individual's voice and visual likeness. This measure unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 18.