Sony Music has raised alarm over a surge in fake songs generated using artificial intelligence, revealing it has sought the removal of more than 135,000 tracks that impersonate its artists across streaming platforms.
In a statement, the global music company said the fraudulent recordings, commonly known as deepfakes, mimic the voices and styles of some of its biggest acts, including Beyoncé, Queen and Harry Styles.
The company warned that such content is increasingly being used to take advantage of artists, especially when they are promoting new music.
Sony said the spread of these AI-generated tracks is causing direct financial losses to genuine performers and misleading fans. It added that in some cases, the fake releases can interfere with official album campaigns or damage an artist’s reputation.
“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.
The company noted that the number of such songs continues to rise as artificial intelligence tools become cheaper and easier to access. While it has identified 135,000 tracks so far, Sony believes this is only a small portion of what is currently available on streaming services.
Since last March, the company has detected about 60,000 songs falsely claiming to feature artists from its catalogue. Other musicians who may have been affected include Bad Bunny, Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson.
“The problem with deepfakes are they are a demand-driven event,” said Kooker. “They are taking advantage of the fact an artist is out there promoting their music.
“That is when deepfakes are at their worst - building off and benefiting from the demand the artist has created [and] ultimately detracting from what the artist is trying to accomplish.”
The concerns were raised during the release of the Global Music Report in London by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which also showed that the music industry continues to grow.
According to the report, global recorded music revenues increased by 6.4 percent last year to reach $31.7 billion, marking the 11th consecutive year of growth. The recovery has largely been driven by the rise of paid streaming subscriptions after years of decline linked to piracy.
The UK remained the third largest music market globally, while China overtook Germany to become the fourth largest, having entered the top 10 less than a decade ago.
Taylor Swift was named the biggest artist of 2025 and also had the most popular album globally with The Life Of A Showgirl. She was followed by K-pop group Stray Kids and Canadian rapper Drake.
The industry event also coincided with the release of a report on the regulation of artificial intelligence by the UK government. Attendees welcomed the decision to pause plans that would have allowed AI companies to train their systems using copyrighted material without permission.
“I think we've seen a lot of governments really grappling with this issue because they are trying to square a circle: They are trying to protect creativity and at the same time encourage innovation,” said Victoria Oakley, CEO of IFPI.
“I'm very optimistic that... in the UK, they [have] decided to pause and think again.”
Beyond deepfakes, the industry also flagged concerns over streaming manipulation, where fake artists upload songs and artificially inflate play counts to earn royalties from platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, Instagram and Apple Music.
The IFPI said artificial intelligence has made the problem worse, with some estimates suggesting up to 10 percent of all content on streaming services could be fraudulent.
“I hate to say it, but it's very simple to fix,” said Oakley, urging platforms to adopt tools that can detect and label AI-generated music at the point of upload.
“The challenge of identifying and labelling AI material is absolutely the next critical challenge,” she added.
Kooker pointed to existing efforts by streaming platforms, noting that the French company Deezer has already introduced technology to flag AI-generated songs, with about 34 percent of submissions now identified as such.
“Is it perfect? I'm sure it's not, but it's open and it's transparent, and it allows people to understand what is happening,” said Kooker.
“Without proper identification, fans can't distinguish between genuine human creativity versus unauthorised, AI-generated content, which risks creating confusion, undermining trust, and impacting user experiences.
“Transparency shouldn't be optional, it's the foundation of a fair and sustainable music ecosystem.”
