Spotify signed a licensing deal with Believe on Oct. 20 for its upcoming AI remix tool, a paid add-on for Premium subscribers that lets fans make remixes and covers of songs from participating artists, Spotify said.
Spotify is building the tool around opt-in licensing, so the catalog fans can remix will be as large as the number of artists who say yes. Participation is voluntary: artists from Believe and TuneCore first opt in to being considered for AI-related programs, then decide separately whether to join the Spotify partnership.
How the Believe Licensing Deal Works
The tool covers remixes and covers of existing songs and does not cover entirely new works, Spotify said. Streams of the fan-made versions generate royalties for the participating artists and for the rights holders of the original works. Each remix links back to the original track and artist.
Denis Ladegaillerie, founder and chief executive of Believe, said AI “must create new opportunities for artists” while protecting their rights. Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s senior vice president and global head of music, framed the product as a way for fan creativity to deepen the connection between fans and artists. Spotify said it is fighting AI spam and impersonation and adding ways for listeners to see when AI was used. Believe is building on its GenAI Music Content Framework.
What Spotify Reported for the Third Quarter
The add-on would sell into a large base. Spotify reported 306 million Premium subscribers, up 9% from a year earlier, and 788 million monthly active users, up 11%. Subscribers make up about 39% of monthly users, a calculation from the two figures.
Revenue was €5.0 billion, up 16% and up 14% in constant currency. Gross margin was 33.0%, up 136 basis points, and operating income was €672 million, which is about 13% of revenue by a calculation from the two figures.
How Spotify Describes Its AI Policy
In a separate one-year update on Oct. 20, Spotify said its principle is that human artistry comes first. It reported removing more than 50 million spam and “slop” tracks from recommendations this year and more than 75 million spammy tracks from the platform for serious or repeated violations.
The company said artists submit tens of thousands of AI credits daily under a feature launched in April, that more than 300,000 artists are verified and that it began labeling AI personas on Aug. 11. A beta that lets artists review releases credited to them before they go live is due to reach all artists by the end of the year.
What Spotify’s Co-CEOs Said
Alex Norström, a co-CEO, said, “This was a quarter where we did what we said,” and described a business with moderating costs and more growth ahead. Gustav Söderström, the other co-CEO, argued that Spotify sits in one of the few categories positioned to thrive in what he called the agentic age, because people want software agents to handle chores and not entertainment. Believe said it will share more details on its AI framework later.
