Among the songs whose release dates could be established, most appeared after 2024. (Reuters photo)
Hundreds of such tracks have appeared on major music streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and Deezer, according to research by Terrecon, a Ukrainian nonprofit organisation focused on threat intelligence.
Last week, a director of Moscow’s Internet Development Institute, an organisation that works closely with the Kremlin to promote patriotic values, said in a presentation that the institute had supported more than 350 artistic projects related to the war, according to Russian media reports. Spotify said in September that it had introduced a policy to label AI-generated songs and prevent them from being recommended to users.
Earlier reporting noted: In total, as many as 981 songs were found to be “pro-Russian war propaganda” according to Terrecon, with a majority of them being released after 2024 when AI song generators like Sudo and Udio took over the market. Earlier reporting noted: According to a report by The New York Times , hundreds of such songs have taken over some of the most popular music streaming platforms in the world, including Spotify, and US-based apps like YouTube Music and Apple Music. It is not clear how much involvement, if any, the Russian government has had in producing or distributing the songs. However, the Kremlin has supported cultural projects aimed at promoting patriotic themes. Deezer and YouTube are among the platforms that require certain AI-generated content to be labelled. The company also added labels to songs shared by The New York Times as examples.
Earlier reporting noted: Russian Government’s Role Russian Government’s Role
Terrecon said it catalogued 981 songs created with AI that contained what it classified as pro-Russian war propaganda.
Terrecon said some praise Russian soldiers, describe the war from a Russian perspective and contain derogatory references to Ukrainians, including ethnic slurs. The technology has lowered the time and cost involved in producing music, according to Daria Verbytska, a founder of Terrecon. “They have found new ways to create cheaper drones and use them on a massive scale,” Daria Verbytska, a founder of Terrecon, said told NYT in a telephone interview, referring to the Russians. “It’s like that with music — creating massive propaganda with the help of AI”
The songs cover a wide range of musical styles, from ballads to heavy metal.