Sony Pulls 135,000 AI Fake Songs From Streaming Sites
The Facts
- Sony Music has requested the removal of more than 135,000 AI-generated songs falsely attributed to its artists on streaming platforms, with around 60,000 of those identified since March 2025 alone.
- Artists including Beyoncé, Queen, Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson are among those targeted by deepfakes, which Sony says cause "direct commercial harm to legitimate recording artists."
- Dennis Kooker, president of Sony's global digital business, said deepfakes are "demand-driven," targeting artists during album promotions to exploit audience interest and divert streaming revenue.
Sources Split
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The Spin
Narrative A
AI music tools are genuinely useful for independent composers who lack access to full orchestras or bands — it's just a smarter sample library that actually nails instrument sounds. This isn't replacing the hard work of writing and scoring music; it's just handling the final production step. Dismissing AI as a creative tool ignores how it levels the playing field for artists without major label budgets.
Narrative B
Labels are now weaponizing AI against the very artists whose work trained these systems, turning tools like Udio into industry instruments rather than creative ones. Real artistry comes from years of practice, failure and human experience — not typed prompts built on stolen work. Letting AI flood streaming platforms doesn't democratize music; it just makes exploitation faster and harder to trace.
Metaculus Prediction
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