# Spotify Expands AI Remix and Covers Project with Merlin Partnership

> Spotify is widening its experiment with AI-generated remixes and covers, and it is doing so by bringing more of the music industry inside the tent. Merlin, the licensing body that represents over 30,000 independent labels, is joining an effort that already had Universal Music Group's backing, a signal that Spotify wants rights holders on board before AI tools touch their catalogs. The framing is deliberately different from the wave of AI music startups that have angered artists. Spotify is emphasizing consent and compensation, launching the feature as a paid add-on that creates a new income stream for participating artists, and rolling it out first as a limited research preview to select users. Musicians do not have to opt their whole catalog in. The backdrop explains the caution. As of 2026, roughly half of daily track uploads to rival service Deezer are AI-generated. Rather than fight that tide or ignore it, Spotify is trying to build a licensed, artist-approved lane for AI music, betting that permission is a better business than a free-for-all.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Thursday, August 6, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Spotify is widening its experiment with AI-generated remixes and covers, and it is doing so by bringing more of the music industry inside the tent. Merlin, the licensing body that represents over 30,000 independent labels, is joining an effort that already had Universal Music Group's backing, a signal that Spotify wants rights holders on board before AI tools touch their catalogs. The framing is deliberately different from the wave of AI music startups that have angered artists. Spotify is emphasizing consent and compensation, launching the feature as a paid add-on that creates a new income stream for participating artists, and rolling it out first as a limited research preview to select users. Musicians do not have to opt their whole catalog in. The backdrop explains the caution. As of 2026, roughly half of daily track uploads to rival service Deezer are AI-generated. Rather than fight that tide or ignore it, Spotify is trying to build a licensed, artist-approved lane for AI music, betting that permission is a better business than a free-for-all.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/04/spotify-adds-merlin-to-its-ai-music-remix-and-covers-effort/)

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