Deezer Opens AI Music Detection to Industry Rivals

Deezer announced Thursday that it is making its artificial intelligence music detection system available to rival streaming platforms, a significant move that could reshape how the music industry handles the growing problem of fraudulent AI-generated content. The French streaming service developed the technology to automatically identify and remove fully synthetic tracks from its platform, and is now opening it up as a commercial product for other companies to license and deploy.

The decision comes as AI-generated music uploads continue to flood streaming services at an alarming rate. Deezer now receives roughly 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks per day, nearly triple the volume from June 2025 when the company was processing about 20,000 daily uploads. Since launching its detection tool at the start of 2025, Deezer has identified and tagged more than 13.4 million AI tracks on its platform.

Background

The rise of AI music generation tools like Suno and Udio has created a new problem for streaming platforms. Rather than serving genuine music fans, many of these synthetic tracks are uploaded specifically to exploit the streaming payment system. Deezer reports that 85 percent of streams from AI-generated tracks are fraudulent, designed to game payouts rather than reach real listeners.

This fraudulent activity directly harms human musicians. When AI tracks flood recommendation algorithms and royalty pools, they compete for the same payments that would otherwise go to songwriters and artists. The problem has grown so severe that it now represents a structural challenge to how the entire streaming economy operates.

Deezer launched its detection tool in June 2025 as the first major streaming platform to explicitly tag and exclude AI-generated music. The company took a different approach than simply banning synthetic content. Instead, it removes fully AI-generated tracks from algorithmic recommendations, excludes them from royalty pools, demonetizes them, and labels them for listeners. This allows experimentation with AI tools while preventing the systematic abuse of streaming infrastructure.

Key Details

How the Technology Works

Deezer's detection system analyzes audio signals for patterns created by major AI music generators. The company claims 99.8 percent accuracy in identifying tracks from models like Suno and Udio. The technology has advanced to the point where it can detect synthetic content without needing specific training datasets for each new tool, giving it broader applicability across the industry.

Deezer has already applied for two patents on its detection technology, filed in December 2024, covering different methods of identifying the unique signatures that distinguish synthetic music from authentic content.

Industry Adoption

Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said there has been significant interest in the tool from across the industry, with several companies completing successful tests. One confirmed partner is Sacem, the French rights management organization representing more than 300,000 music creators and publishers, including artists such as David Guetta and DJ Snake.

"We know that the majority of AI-music is uploaded to Deezer with the purpose of committing fraud, and we continue to take action. We detect and tag AI-generated music and remove it from algorithmic recommendations, so that our users have a clear choice regarding what to listen to, while making it harder for fraudsters to game the system." — Alexis Lanternier, CEO, Deezer

The company is offering the technology as a B2B software product, with pricing varying based on deal structure. Deezer declined to disclose specific pricing or name additional companies in talks, but indicated that licensing the detection tool represents a new revenue opportunity while simultaneously solving an industry-wide crisis.

Billboard also uses Deezer's tagging system to identify AI-generated music for its charts, demonstrating the tool's credibility and usefulness beyond streaming platforms themselves.

What This Means

Deezer's decision to license its detection technology represents a significant shift in how the music industry approaches AI-generated content. Rather than keeping a competitive advantage in-house, the company is betting that standardizing detection across the entire industry serves everyone better than hoarding the technology.

If major streaming platforms adopt similar measures, it could fundamentally reshape how discovery algorithms, royalties, and creator protections work in digital music distribution. The move signals that AI-generated music is no longer a niche issue but a central structural problem that requires industry-wide solutions.

The success of this approach depends on widespread adoption. If only a handful of platforms implement detection while others ignore the problem, fraudsters will simply migrate their content to unprotected services. But if the major players embrace standardized detection, it becomes much harder for bad actors to exploit the system at scale.

For human artists and songwriters, the stakes are clear. Every fraudulent stream that goes undetected means money diverted from real creators. By making detection technology available across the industry, Deezer is attempting to ensure that the royalty pools remain protected and that human creativity continues to be fairly compensated in the streaming era.