Spotify Removes 50 Million Slop And Spam Tracks From Recommendations
Spotify says it has reduced the presence of tracks it classifies as slop or spam in recommendations while promoting more music by human artists.
Spotify says it has removed more than 50 million tracks it classifies as “slop and spam” from user recommendations. The company has also adjusted its recommendation system to surface more music by human artists, according to Engadget and The Verge. The change concerns what listeners are served in recommendations; it does not mean all 50 million tracks have been deleted from Spotify.
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What changed in recommendations
Engadget reports that Spotify describes the 50 million removals as taking place so far in 2026, while The Verge describes them as occurring over the past year. Both outlets say Spotify has changed its recommendations to favor music from human artists. Engadget says the company made several such updates during the last six months. Spotify’s editors also exclude tracks identified as slop or spam from curated playlists.
According to Engadget, Spotify examined songs that listeners skipped, ignored or said they did not want to hear, and found a pattern of rejection for tracks it identified as slop or spam. Spotify says listener concerns about this content appearing in recommendations have declined since the changes. It also says it expects to keep updating its systems as spammers change their tactics.
How Spotify identifies tracks and artists
Spotify uses listener feedback, upload patterns, metadata and third-party AI detection tools among its signals, the reports say. Engadget notes Spotify’s warning that AI detection tools have limitations and may become less effective as generative AI improves.
The company has also introduced an “AI Persona” label for virtual artists. The Verge says Spotify does not recommend music from these personas. Engadget adds a qualification: their tracks are excluded from recommendations by default, but may appear if a listener follows the artist, for example. Such tracks are also kept out of editor-curated playlists, according to Engadget.
For other releases, Spotify has not required every track involving AI to carry a label, The Verge reports. Engadget says artists submit tens of thousands of AI credits each day to describe the technology’s role in their uploads. Listeners can view those credits in the mobile Now Playing screen.
Recommendations are not platform removals
The distinction matters for listeners trying to avoid AI-generated audio altogether. Engadget emphasizes that taking tracks out of recommendations does not necessarily remove them from Spotify or provide a way to filter out all AI-generated music. The Verge likewise describes the 50 million figure as a recommendation change, separate from Spotify’s earlier statement that it had taken down more than 75 million spam tracks.
Engadget says Spotify has not provided an updated total for those platform-wide deletions. The company told the outlet that it continues to remove content that seriously or repeatedly violates its rules. For now, the newly announced figure measures how much content Spotify has stopped promoting, not how much it has erased from its catalog.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.