Believe, the France-based independent music company, has struck a licensing deal with Spotify for the streamer's forthcoming tool that lets fans make AI covers and remixes of existing songs. Announced on 20 October 2026, the agreement covers participating artists and labels at Believe and at TuneCore, its self-release arm. Believe says the two companies had been discussing a partnership for about a year, and describes the arrangement as an extension of the vision it shared with Spotify a year ago.
“These efforts illustrate how we are working together to eradicate AI slop and make AI a value creator for music fans, artists and right-holders.”
Denis Ladegaillerie, founder and CEO of Believe, in the announcement · musicbusinessworldwide.com ↗
Believe is the latest rights holder to join. Universal Music Group signed in May, the indie licensing body Merlin on 4 August and the publisher Kobalt on 13 August. Sony and Warner have announced nothing for this tool, and Spotify co-CEO Gustav Söderström said in August the service does not need every major on board. The product is planned as a paid add-on for Premium subscribers, with no name, price or launch date given. Spotify has said a research preview for a subset of users comes next, and nothing in the announcement says when the wider launch will follow.
The mechanics lean on consent and payment. Artists first decide whether they want to be considered for any AI programme at all, then separately opt in or out of Spotify's. When a remix streams, the rights holders and the original artist are paid, and each remix links back to the track it came from. Both sides stress the tool is for covers and remixes of existing songs, not wholly new works, and note that fan remixes already circulate widely, usually without payment to anyone. The new licence is meant to bring that activity inside a system where the people who own the recordings and the compositions share in the money.
Believe frames the deal as voluntary and built on the principles it published in 2023: consent, control, compensation and transparency. Spotify's position is that fan creativity, handled properly, strengthens the bond with artists and sends listeners back to the originals. Believe adds that more developments in its generative-AI framework will be shared in due course, without saying what they will be.
The deal sits in a run of Believe's AI moves. It blocked tracks from unlicensed generators on 30 April, then signed a global deal with Suno on 8 September that reversed that stance. Spotify, for its part, named Believe among its artist-first AI partners in October 2025, added a Verified by Spotify badge in April and an AI Persona badge in August. On the day of the announcement it also said it had removed more than 50 million spam tracks from recommendations this year, a figure both outlets reported alongside the licensing news.
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