Journalist Demonstrates Trivial Hijacking of Artists' Spotify Pages With AI Music
A 404 Media journalist demonstrates how easy it is to hijack a real band's streaming page by generating an AI song with Udio and releasing it on the official Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music profiles of the Brooklyn punk band Lathe of Heaven — all without the band's knowledge or consent.
The scam exploits a long-standing loophole in digital music distribution, and AI music producers are now abusing it widely. Scammers upload low-quality AI tracks to popular artists' pages, collect the royalties from unsuspecting listeners, and leave fans hearing slop instead of the music they expect.
The reporter finds the exploit trivial to replicate, and neither the streaming platforms nor the digital distributors are taking responsibility for fixing the problem, leaving artists vulnerable to having their catalogs and reputations diluted by fake releases.