IT Home, November 1: According to the Financial Times, Spotify is actively advancing negotiations for copyright licenses and working to persuade musicians to adopt new technologies. Spotify plans to launch an AI-powered service in early 2027 that will allow users to create their own remixes and covers of songs.
According to insiders, Spotify plans to launch the product in the first quarter of next year, potentially debuting around the Grammy Awards in February. One insider stated that Spotify is considering charging subscribers an additional $4 to $5 per month for premium services.
With this feature, paid subscribers can use artificial intelligence to rearrange popular songs—for example, turning a folk song into a dance track or generating a brand-new version as if sung by a specific artist. Sources note that the exact launch date and pricing have not been finalized and are subject to change.
After the media reported on its AI remixing initiative, Spotify's stock rose nearly 6% on Friday. The company declined to comment.
Spotify is negotiating licensing agreements with Sony Music and Warner Music to allow the feature to go live. It is reported that the company has already reached agreements with Universal Music Group, independent label licensing agency Merlin, and French music company Believe.
Although the technology has sparked resistance from some artists, its launch will serve as a critical test for the music industry to determine whether generative AI can be transformed into a new revenue growth driver.
According to informed sources, Spotify has partnered with Universal Music, the world's largest record label, to initiate one-on-one discussions with several prominent artists in an effort to persuade them to grant licensing rights to the service.
However, insiders acknowledged that securing collaborations with current pop superstars presents significantly greater resistance compared to convincing established veteran musicians. According to the plan, even if their record labels have already signed licensing agreements with Spotify, artists retain the sole right to decide whether or not to participate.
Spotify announced this feature as early as May this year, but has not disclosed further details since then. In August, co-CEO Gustav Söderström told investors that the service would launch once fully prepared.
It’s important to note that this service is fundamentally different from AI music generators like Suno, which create entirely new audio from text prompts. Spotify’s model enables fans to create derivative works based on music from artists who have explicitly authorized and consented to participate.
Under the current proposed plan, all royalty revenues generated from fan-created remixes will be fully returned to the original artists. Informed sources also revealed that Spotify is developing a complementary system to allow these remixes to be included in various playlists, with their streams directly contributing to the original song’s performance on Spotify’s official charts.
At an investor engagement event in September, Söderström publicly urged established artists to actively embrace this AI-enhanced feature to expand their monetization channels:
If you were a singer active in the 1980s or 1990s, your only way to increase income used to be relying on other professional artists to cover or remix your old songs. Now, you can directly benefit from your global fans who create, remix, and cover your classic tracks themselves.
He further added: "As long as one fan creates a remix of your song, your share of royalties from the overall streaming royalty pool will genuinely increase."