The claim
Generate songs with Suno or Udio and earn streaming royalties.
Deezer's 50% milestone, Spotify policy changes and fraud prosecutions made AI music a major 2026 news thread.
How we checked
This is an evidence check, not a hands-on test. We reviewed platform rules and policies, published earnings data, regulator warnings and reporting: 5 sources, listed below.
Costs
- Start-up cost
- £8–£25/month
- Effort
- low
What the evidence shows
AI tracks make up over half of new daily uploads on Deezer but only 1–3% of listening, and Deezer keeps detected AI tracks out of recommendations. Spotify pays nothing on tracks under 1,000 streams a year, deleted 75m+ spam tracks, and filters mass uploads. The big money stories involve bot-streaming fraud, such as a man who pleaded guilty to taking $8m.
Realistic earnings: Usually under £5 total; most tracks never reach Spotify's 1,000-stream royalty threshold.
Limitations
Earnings ranges are typical outcomes for a beginner, drawn from the sources; some people do far better or worse. Platform rules change often, so check the latest policy before you start.
Rarely matches what is promised.
Sources
- Deezer (Jul 2026): AI is over 50% of daily uploads but 1–3% of streams, and up to 85% of its streams were fraudulent newsroom-deezer.com
- Music Business Worldwide: Spotify removed 75m+ spam tracks and added an AI spam filter and impersonation rules musicbusinessworldwide.com
- Spotify for Artists: tracks need 1,000 annual streams to earn royalties artists.spotify.com
- MusicTech: man pleads guilty to $8m AI-song bot-streaming fraud musictech.com
- Deezer (July 2026): AI tracks exceed 50% of uploads but only 1–3% of streams, with 85% of AI-track streams fraudulent thenextweb.com
