97% of Listeners Cannot Distinguish Between AI-Generated and Human-Created Music, Survey Reveals

8% of respondents wanted fully AI-generated music clearly labelled for listeners. (Representational)

France:

According to a survey released Wednesday, distinguishing between artificial intelligence-generated music and human-created compositions has become nearly impossible for listeners.

In a study conducted for French streaming platform Deezer, polling firm Ipsos asked 9,000 participants to listen to two AI-generated music clips and one human-created piece.

Deezer reported that "Ninety-seven percent could not distinguish between music entirely generated by AI and human-created music."

The survey's release coincides with a milestone in the US music industry, where an AI-generated country music song reached the top of the charts for the first time this week.

"Walk My Walk" by Breaking Rust, an artist widely reported by US media to utilize generative AI technology, claimed the top position on Billboard magazine's digital sales chart for country songs, according to data published Monday.

Deezer noted that over half of the survey respondents expressed discomfort at being unable to differentiate between AI and human-created music.

The broader questions about AI's impact revealed that 51 percent believe the technology would lead to more low-quality music on streaming platforms, while nearly two-thirds felt it would result in diminished creativity.

"The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they're listening to AI or human made tracks or not," stated Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier.

One In Three Streamed Tracks AI

Deezer has observed not only a surge in AI-generated content uploads but also increasing listener engagement with these tracks.

In January, one in 10 tracks streamed daily were completely AI-generated. By October, that figure had risen to over one in three, representing nearly 40,000 daily streams.

Eighty percent of survey respondents expressed a desire for fully AI-generated music to be clearly labeled for listeners.

Currently, Deezer stands as the only major music-streaming platform systematically labeling completely AI-generated content for its users.

This issue gained significant attention in June when a band called The Velvet Sundown suddenly went viral on Spotify, only revealing the following month that it was in fact AI-generated content.

The AI group's most popular song has accumulated more than three million streams.

In response to such developments, Spotify announced it would encourage artists and publishers to join a voluntary industry code to disclose AI use in music production.

The Deezer survey was conducted between October 6 and 10 across eight countries: Brazil, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States.