Spotify is targeting the first quarter of 2027 for an AI music remix service and is considering an additional $4 to $5 monthly charge for subscribers, Reuters reported on 30 October, citing a Financial Times account based on people familiar with the plans. The proposed service would let paying subscribers make their own versions of songs, taking Spotify beyond listening into music creation.
Key points
- Spotify is considering charging subscribers an extra $4 to $5 a month to create AI remixes of songs.
- Under the reported plan, original artists would receive royalties from fan-made remixes, and remix plays would count towards their songs in Spotify’s charts.
- Licensing deals are in place with Universal Music Group, Merlin and Believe. Talks with Sony Music and Warner Music are continuing.
Spotify considers a $4 to $5 add-on
The contemplated charge would sit on top of a subscriber’s existing payment rather than replace it. Reuters reported that the company did not immediately respond to its request for comment.
The service described in the Financial Times report would give paying subscribers tools to alter recorded music. One example is changing a song’s genre, such as turning a folk track into a dance track. Another would make one artist appear to perform another artist’s music. Both uses depend on access to songs covered by the proposed remix feature.
The proposed monthly charge is separate from the licensing agreements Spotify has reached with music companies. It remains under consideration, as does the launch timetable. The first-quarter target puts the service’s planned introduction within months of the licensing negotiations reported on 30 October.
Universal, Merlin and Believe have deals
Spotify has struck licensing deals for the remix feature with Universal Music Group, independent-label group Merlin and French music company Believe, according to the report. The agreements cover three groups of music rights holders whose catalogues would be involved in letting subscribers make new versions of songs.
Spotify is still negotiating with Sony Music and Warner Music over the feature. Those talks place two other named music companies outside the group with which Spotify has already reached agreements. The reported first-quarter timetable therefore sits alongside licensing work that is continuing.
Under Spotify’s plan, royalties generated by fan-created remixes would go back to the original artists. Plays of a remix would also count towards the original song in Spotify’s charts. Those provisions concern two different outcomes for a song: payment to its artist and how listening to a new version would be recorded in the platform’s rankings.
Spotify’s remix plan follows track removals
Spotify said it had removed over 50 million tracks from its recommendations, AI Affairs previously reported. The remix proposal instead concerns subscribers making altered versions of songs under licensing arrangements with music companies.
Spotify is targeting a possible unveiling of the remix service around the Grammy Awards in February 2027, according to the report.
