AI-generated music is changing the face of the streaming landscape. Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music are the three biggest music streaming platforms in the world. All three streaming services have embraced the use of AI technology and AI-generated music on their platforms.
Access to AI music tools makes it easier for creators and musicians to showcase their art and turn their vision into sound. For listeners, it’s a whole new experience with thousands of AI-generated songs to discover.
Here’s more about how AI is changing how people create and listen to music in 2025.
The Impact of AI on Music Streaming Platforms
Artificial intelligence is already having a major impact on music streaming platforms, via algorithms that recommend music you might like based on your songs, preferences, or mood.
While this is only a small example of AI use on music streaming platforms, it’s also a very powerful illustration of how AI intuitively knows what listeners will like. This can be used to predict trends for songwriting, or be used to view entire genres at a glance.
The projected impact of AI on music streaming platforms also reaches to creators. AI music tools are making it easier to create new music, including film and television soundtracks or entire albums and hit singles.
Imagine being able to create anything you wanted, or matching what you might have playing in your head. That’s the power AI gives music creators, and why it’s changing music streaming.
AI does much more than just recommending future good music. Machine learning can also be used to create songs based on a particular style, or to project what a hit song might sound like more accurately than people can guess by themselves. AI will always know what’s going to be a hit.
Easier Creation for Artists and Musicians
There are many artists, creators, and musicians walking around with great ideas—what’s holding them back is usually the cost of music production tools and promotion.
AI music tools allows for easier music creation. Ideas can see the world with one click, instead of having to wait for your first million or a hot record deal.
Streaming platforms will see a lot more AI-generated music in the future, especially with tools like SOUNDRAW making music easier to create.
Apple, Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music: The Big Three
If you wanted to listen to music right now, where would you go? Most people skip turning on a radio station, and head to one of the big three music streaming platforms: Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube Music.
These platforms have millions of subscribers between them, including DJs, listeners, artists, and venues who playlist their background music using these sites.
Music producers and artists predominantly use these platform to showcase and promote their music. Creators might also use music from other artists in their own videos or content.
How do these platforms feel about AI music tools and AI-generated music?
Here’s what creators and listeners should know.
Apple Music
Apple Music has approximately 88 million subscribers, making it one of the world’s most popular streaming platforms. As a creator or musician, this means you can’t afford to miss out on getting your tracks on Apple Music, the good news is that Apple Music have embraced AI-generated music and art for creators.
Apple has also invested in a startup they describe as an Infinite Music Engine, which creates music and artwork for individual users based on their prompts or mood suggestions.
According to Time, this feature might soon be available to all Apple Music users.
Spotify
Spotify is one of the first music streaming platforms to fully welcome AI-generated music on their site.
While some AI music has been banned from Spotify before, this has largely been because of direct copyright infringement—tools like SOUNDRAW create royalty-free music that eliminates this issue from happening to you and any content you’ve created.
Spotify CEO Daniel Eck stated, as early as 2023, that the platform is open to AI-generated music. Specifically, artists are welcome to upload art and music that has been created using AI assistance.
Spotify has also introduced what they call the Spotify AI Playlist. Available as a beta feature for the UK and Australia since April 2024, this is a playlist creation tool that uses prompts to find your perfect playlist.
According to how it works, the website notes: “Creating a new playlist with AI Playlist is as simple as typing a unique prompt into the chat.”
This AI-powered Spotify feature lets you specify exactly what you’d like your playlist to feel like. For example, ”Create a playlist full of calm music that reminds you of a cabin in the forest, or hot chocolate on a cold day.”
This playlist feature might soon be available to users in other countries.
YouTube Music
YouTube is already well-known for its use of machine learning algorithms: that’s what powers their predictions, which recommends things that you might like in your videos or feed based on what it knows about you. However, there’s a whole discussion surrounding AI-generated tracks on YouTube Music—and what it could mean for creators and listeners.
YouTube Music has more than 700 million active subscribers around the world. Artists and music producers can’t promote music without this platform—and its embrace of AI-generated music and art signals good news for creators everywhere.
YouTube is a hotbed of new AI-generated music, including hip-hop and metal like you’ve never heard it before. According to YouTube’s rules, music and art generated with AI remains welcome on the platform. Being royalty-free, music created with tools like SOUNDRAW can change how artists get their music on streaming platforms.
However, YouTube also experimented with other AI-generated music tools. One of their tools is called Dream Track, which aimed to create AI-generated music for its Shorts.
Their Dream Track experiment gave 9 unique artists a chance to have their music used as inspiration. The resulting demo created unique, AI-generated music snippets for Shorts videos that fit a specific user prompt while using real musicians’ work as inspiration.
Demi Lovato, John Legend, Sia, and T-Pain are some of the selected artists who contributed to this AI-generated music leap.
YouTube Music fully embraces what AI could do for streaming platforms.
AI's Impact on Streaming
As AI continues to shape the future of music streaming, its integration into platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music is transforming how creators produce, share, and experience music.
For artists, AI tools offer an accessible way to bring their musical visions to life without the usual barriers of high production costs.
For listeners, AI-generated tracks introduce a fresh and diverse array of music to explore. The ability to generate royalty-free, customizable beats with platforms like SOUNDRAW is a game-changer, eliminating copyright concerns and opening up new opportunities for both emerging and established artists. As AI technology advances, we can expect even greater innovation and convenience, reshaping the entire music industry landscape.
Why not get started with the future of music production today?