Sony Music artists including Harry Styles voice deepfake

Sony Music is currently engaged in a massive effort to remove more than 260,000 AI-generated tracks that impersonate its artists without authorization. The company has significantly expanded its original removal target, which was initially set at 135,000 tracks.

What happened

The initiative targets unauthorized deepfake audio content featuring the voices and likenesses of prominent artists, including Harry Styles, Adele, Britney Spears, Queen, and Michael Jackson. Sony has been issuing takedown requests to various platforms, though the company describes the process as an uphill struggle. Tracking the success of these removals remains difficult, as the current figures only account for tracks that Sony has specifically flagged for removal.

Sony has emphasized that its tally is strictly limited to unauthorized artist impersonations and does not encompass the entirety of AI-generated music circulating online. The company expects digital platforms to act promptly to ensure that removed content does not reappear. This ongoing challenge highlights broader industry concerns regarding the authenticity of music and the protection of artists' rights in an era of increasingly widespread AI use. While platforms like Spotify have begun implementing policies that permit vocal impersonation only with explicit artist authorization, Sony continues to push for stricter protections to ensure the safety of its labels and performers.