Sony Flags 135,000 AI Deepfake Songs Impersonating Top Artists

Music giant Sony Music Entertainment says it has requested the removal of more than 135,000 fake songs created using generative artificial intelligence and uploaded to streaming platforms by fraudsters impersonating its artists.

The so-called deepfakes targeted some of the label’s biggest names, including Beyoncé, Queen and Harry Styles. Other acts believed to have been affected include Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson.

Sony says the surge in AI-generated counterfeits is causing “direct commercial harm to legitimate recording artists,” particularly when musicians are promoting new albums.

“In the worst cases, [the deepfakes] potentially damage a release campaign or tarnish the reputation of an artist,” said Dennis Kooker, president of Sony’s global digital business.

Since March of last year alone, the company says it has identified roughly 60,000 tracks falsely claiming to feature artists from its roster. Executives believe the 135,000 songs flagged so far represent only a fraction of the total circulating across streaming services.

The disclosure came during the launch of the music industry’s Global Music Report in London, published by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

According to the IFPI, global recorded music revenues grew by 6.4 percent last year to 31.7 billion U.S. dollars, marking the 11th consecutive year of growth, largely driven by paid streaming subscriptions.

While industry revenues continue to climb, executives warn that AI-generated music and streaming fraud threaten to undermine those gains.

Victoria Oakley, CEO of the IFPI, said stronger safeguards are needed, particularly tools to identify and label AI-generated content at the point of upload. “The challenge of identifying and labelling AI material is absolutely the next critical challenge,” Oakley said.