Spotify expands AI remix and covers project with Merlin partnership

Spotify Technology S.A. announced during its second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday that Merlin, a licensing partner for independent labels and distributors, has joined Universal Music Group (UMG) in its upcoming AI-powered fan-made covers and remixes product, bringing more than 30,000 labels from Merlin's network. Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström emphasized the product focuses on "real artists, not fake artists," with co-CEO Alex Norström noting it will provide consent, credit, and compensation for artists, positioning it as "the first legal way to partake in this AI tailwind." The product will launch as a paid add-on, with a research preview initially available to a subset of users, though no release date was provided.

During its second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Spotify again teased the upcoming release of a new product that will allow music fans to leverage AI to make covers and remixes of artists’ music, with the artists’ consent. The company also announced that Merlin, https://newsroom.spotify.com/2026-08-04/merlin-spotify-licensing-agreements-fan-made-covers-remixes/ a licensing partner for independent labels and distributors, has now joined Universal Music Group UMG on the new AI music effort. The deal brings more than 30,000 labels from Merlin’s network to the product, which will allow fan-made covers and remixes by artists who agree to participate. Spotify has positioned its AI music product as being significantly different from the more controversial AI music startups that have been used to create fully artificial songs. Instead, Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström told investors on Tuesday’s call that the company’s AI music product will be about “real artists, not fake artists.” “We want artists to be consenting to add their work into this catalog, so people can play around with covers and remixes based on their art,” added co-CEO Alex Norström. “We also obviously want to give them credit. And last but not least…we not only have the consent and give credit, but we also drive the compensation for this. So, really, we’re talking about the first legal way to partake in this AI tailwind that we see coming for interactive music,” he said. AI music has flooded streaming services. Music streamer Deezer recently noted that more than 50% of daily track uploads were generated with AI https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/21/music-streamer-deezer-says-more-than-50-of-daily-uploads-are-ai-generated/ , up from 10% in January 2025. The company told investors that a research preview of the fan remix and covers product would initially be made available to a subset of users. Spotify also noted that it would not require a full music catalog to get started. The company did not say when the preview would arrive. The new tool will launch as a paid add-on, creating an additional revenue stream for artists, Spotify previously said. “Our remix and covers I think is an incredibly exciting product again because there is no one else that can really do this,” Söderström said. “Normal generative music will happen with or without us. This product will not happen without us, and it needs to exist so that existing artists can can participate in this.”