Spotify has leaned into using generative AI on their app, leaving many feeling conflicted about the future of the platform. Spotify has recently been called out for allowing an AI-generated song to be uploaded onto the late Blaze Foley’s profile. In response to this backlash, Spotify has released a statement addressing this issue.

A Spotify spokesperson said in a statement concerning this recent pushback: “We’ve flagged the issue to SoundOn, the distributor of the content in question, and it has been removed. This violates Spotify’s deceptive content policies, which prohibit impersonation intended to mislead, such as replicating another creator’s name, image, or description, or posing as a person, brand, or organization in a deceptive manner. This is not allowed. We take action against licensors and distributors who fail to police for this kind of fraud and those who commit repeated or egregious violations can and have been permanently removed from Spotify.”

According to thefader.com, Craig McDonald (the man in charge of distribution at Foley’s label Lost Art Records) said the song was uploaded without his or the label’s permission. The song, titled “Together” resembled a typical Foley song and was accompanied by an AI created image of a man holding a microphone. This is not the first time this issue has come up. Spotify also published AI-generated music by Guy Clark and Gram Parson, among possibly others. Although Foley’s song has been removed from Spotify, this does not completely address the controversy of the platform utilizing and supporting AI.

This summer, there was talk about the AI-Generated Band “The Velvet Sundown” , which has gained almost half a million monthly listeners. While the band has many fans they also received many critics. Due to their support of generative AI, there have been several controversies and boycotts surrounding Spotify, both from listeners and musicians.