Spotify Removes 50 Million Slop Tracks From 2026 Recommendations

Spotify said it has removed 50 million tracks categorized as slop and spam from its recommendations so far in 2026, according to a blog post published on October 20, 2026. The company said the figure covers tracks excluded from its recommendation surfaces this year.

Over the previous six months, Spotify updated its recommendation system to favor tracks from authentic, human artists. Its editors also do not include tracks identified as slop or spam in curated playlists.

To detect the material, Spotify said it relies on metadata, user feedback, upload patterns and third-party AI detection tools. The company continues to state that it has removed more than 75 million spammy tracks for serious or repeated rule violations, a figure it first gave in September 2025.

Spotify also said artists are submitting tens of thousands of AI credits per day, a count visible in the Now Playing view on mobile. Just over a year ago, the company announced policy changes to address AI-generated audio on its platform.

AI acts remain a visible presence on the service: Breaking Rust topped a Billboard digital downloads chart last year and currently has around 700,000 monthly listeners, while Sienna Rose and The Velvet Sundown each have more than 100,000 monthly listeners. A report in July stated that the top 10 most-listened-to AI artists on Spotify had earned about $2.4 million.

A Spotify spokesperson told the BBC earlier this year that its priority is addressing harmful uses of AI like spam and impersonation rather than filtering music by how it was made. This month, Deezer said it will let users filter out genAI audio entirely by the end of the year.