Sony seeks removal of 135 000 fake songs impersonating its artists

The company said the tracks, which falsely used the names or likenesses of its artists, included deepfake material linked to acts such as Beyoncé, Queen and Harry Styles.

The issue has drawn attention as AI-generated music continues to appear on major streaming services. Industry publication Digital Music News has reported on the rise of such deepfakes on platforms including Spotify, which does not require music created with artificial intelligence to carry a label.

Sony said the number of fraudulent uploads was increasing as AI tools became cheaper and more widely accessible. According to the company, the 135 000 removals account for only a small share of the total number of fake tracks uploaded to streaming services.

Since March 2025, Sony said it had identified 60 000 tracks falsely claiming to feature artists from its roster, including Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson.

Dennis Kooker, president of Sony’s Global Digital Business, told the BBC that the most serious cases could disrupt official release campaigns and affect artists’ reputations.

“In the worst cases, [the deepfakes] potentially damage a release campaign or tarnish the reputation of an article,” he said.

Kooker said the problem was often linked to periods of heightened public interest in an artist’s work.

“The problem with deepfakes is that they are a demand-driven event,” he said. “They are taking advantage of the fact that an artist is out there promoting their music. That is when deepfakes are at their worst, building off of and benefitting from the demand an artist has created. Ultimately, it distracts from what the artist is trying to accomplish.”

The spread of fake tracks has affected both living and deceased artists. Last year, country singer Blaze Foley, who is dead, was among those targeted when deepfake songs were added to his official Spotify page, despite there being no new releases planned by his estate.

Rapper Tyler, the Creator was also affected around the release of his album Don’t Tap the Glass, when several AI-generated tracks with similar titles appeared on Spotify, according to Digital Music News.

The publication also reported a similar case involving King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard after the band removed its music from Spotify. It said a new act then appeared on the platform with songs that closely resembled the band’s removed material, with some tracks carrying similar names.

The growing number of deepfake songs has added to wider debate in the music industry over platform moderation, artist protection and the use of artificial intelligence in music distribution.