Photo by Qiu MinFeng on Unsplash
A few months ago, Spotify announced they would be implementing the DDEX standard for AI disclosures — labeling AI-generated tracks and rolling out spam filters. You can read the full breakdown here. It’s a move that makes sense from their perspective. But for someone like me — a solo artist making music with AI tools under the name KAIYO//SHARD — it’s just another reminder that the landscape isn’t built for people like me.
My music is already tagged as AI-generated across many of the platforms where DistroKid distributes. I get it — technically it is. But there’s something demoralizing about feeling marked and buried under the rubble before anyone even hits play. The label doesn’t distinguish between someone who cares about what they’re creating and the thousands of spam accounts mass-uploading generated slop to game the algorithm. We all get the same tag. We all get the same filter.
The whole reason I started publishing my music on streaming platforms was simple: I wanted to share it with more people. That’s it. But the reality of music streaming is the same pyramid scheme as Twitch. Oversaturation suffocates the small fish. The algorithms favor what’s already popular, discovery is a myth for anyone without momentum, and the flood of AI-generated content only makes it worse. The irony isn’t lost on me.
So I’m stepping away from streaming platforms. From now on, any music I make will be published on my Suno profile and on my website at kaiyo-shard.net, available for free download.
My expectations are below zero. I understand that in a world where everyone uses streaming services, the music I make won’t be heard by many people. Most won’t bother leaving Spotify to check out a personal website. That’s just how it is. But if that’s the price, then I’d rather do it on my own terms — untagged, unfiltered, and free.
Comments