Spotify is preparing a paid AI tool for fan remixes by early 2027
According to FT, Spotify plans to launch a paid feature for creating covers and remixes based on generative AI. The target is early 2027, with a possible announcement around the Grammy Awards in February.
On October 30, 2026, the Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the plans, reported: Spotify is preparing a paid AI tool that will allow listeners to create their own versions of songs. The launch is planned for early 2027.
This concerns generative AI (a model that creates new content on request). A user will be able, for example, to turn a folk track into a dance remix or imagine one artist singing another's material. According to FT, the product could be shown around the Grammy Awards ceremony in February, but the launch date and price are still being discussed.
The difference from what Spotify did before lies in the access scheme. In May, the company for the first time signed a licensing agreement on generative AI with Universal Music Group. At the time, both sides stated: artists and songwriters must explicitly agree to participate and will receive a share of revenue. Now FT describes the mechanics in more detail: only those artists who have given explicit consent will be available in the tool, even if their labels already have licensing agreements with Spotify. That is, a label's consent does not replace an artist's consent.
After the deal with Universal, Spotify concluded similar agreements with the independent label alliance Merlin, the music publisher Kobalt, and the distributor Believe; the agreement with Believe also covers artists on its TuneCore platform. According to FT, negotiations with Sony Music and Warner Music are ongoing, and neither company has yet announced a licensing deal with Spotify.
In practice, this is how it looks. The tool will be an add-on to the Premium subscription: FT writes about a possible surcharge of $4–5 per month on top of the current subscription price. Royalties from fan versions will be shared with the original artists. Streams of remixes will count in Spotify charts as streams of the original songs. The company is also working on ways to include such versions in playlists. For the listener, this means another paid tier on top of the subscription; for the artist, an additional revenue channel, but only with voluntary participation.
What remains unknown: the exact launch date, the final price, and exactly how the distribution of royalties between artists and rights holders will be structured. It is also unknown whether Spotify will manage to reach agreements with Sony Music and Warner Music by launch — there is no data on this.