Spotify launches verification badges for podcasts to help listeners avoid AI slop and imposters

Spotify is launching verification badges for podcasts to help listeners avoid AI slop - Engadget

Spotify is launching verification badges for podcasts to help "authenticate creator identity and likeness." The most obvious use case for this is to help listeners find real podcasts amidst a sea of AI slop. To that end, the platform says it will also now remove podcasts that impersonate other creators via "AI voice cloning or any other method." The "Verified by Spotify" badge is accompanied by a light green checkmark icon, making real-deal podcasts much easier to spot while perusing. These badges and icons will appear on show pages and in search. The verification process takes the podcast itself into account, but also its listeners. AI-generated podcasts tend to attract a bot-driven listenership. Spotify is looking for "sustained listener activity, with consistent audience engagement over time." These badges begin showing up today, but it'll take the platform a few months to crawl through each of its over 7 million podcast titles. Spotify says this is "the first in a series of steps we're taking to support a more trustworthy podcast ecosystem." We'll keep you updated with any more moves the company makes in this space. This is not the first time Spotify has had to issue verification badges to guide listeners away from AI slop. The platform recently did the very same thing with music. Verified artists get a badge and the same green checkmark icon. AI-generated songs reportedly account for around 44 percent of all recently uploaded tracks, so this tool was an absolute necessity.

Verified by Spotify is expanding to podcasts, so you can avoid low-quality slop

The streamer will roll out the badges to eligible creators over the coming months. If you listen to or create podcasts on Spotify, there's good news for you. Spotify is taking steps to allow podcast creators to establish their identities and gain the trust of their listeners by expanding its verification program and adding its Verified by Spotify badges on eligible podcast shows. The verification program originally came into effect late last month, when Spotify started verifying real artists on the platform. At that time, the platform was limiting the badges to music artists. Today's announcement expands that status to podcast creators. Listeners will begin seeing the verified badges on select Spotify podcasts today, and the rollout will continue over the coming months. In order to be eligible for the verified status, podcasts will need to have a combination of sustained listener activity, verified audience authenticity, and compliance with Spotify's policies. Spotify's verified status won't just help creators establish their identities; it will also let users know they are listening to content that is authentic and trustworthy. Basically, the streaming service wants to help you avoid AI slop and low-quality content by highlighting content from verified creators. When Spotify announced the verification program for music artists last month, the streaming service mentioned that AI profiles weren't eligible for verification. Today's announcement, however, reiterates that the platform will also take down podcasts that impersonate other creators using AI voice cloning and other methods. This obviously doesn't mean that podcasts created with AI are no longer welcome on Spotify. In fact, the blog post specifically states that "AI can open up new creative possibilities," and Spotify recently launched a dedicated tool to upload AI podcasts for personal listening. However, it does mean that using AI to clone or impersonate creators is a no-go, and Spotify will take stronger steps to take down such content. It's worth noting that content that impersonates other creators has never been allowed on Spotify. Today's announcement clarifies that using AI voice cloning and other similar technology is also not allowed on the platform.