The Business Tempo – April 2026: Streaming, AI and Copyright: The Music Industry at a Crossroads

Between soaring growth, organised piracy and algorithmic detection, the music industry is fighting to regain control in the age of artificial intelligence.

Musixmatch launches Sentinel, the anti-piracy radar for lyrics

The battle against unauthorised use of musical content is entering a new phase. Musixmatch, the lyrics specialist, has unveiled Sentinel — a recognition service capable of detecting in milliseconds the use of copyright-protected text or music, whether embedded in AI-generated content or uploaded by everyday users.

The tool integrates into the Musixmatch Pro suite and relies on fine-grained lyrics recognition technology, even when content is only partially reproduced. Backed by licensing agreements with the world’s leading music publishers, Musixmatch aims to help platforms manage their legal exposure in real time, while giving rights holders the protection they have so far lacked.

The proliferation of AI-generated content is creating a legal vacuum that rights holders can no longer afford to ignore.

Extensions are planned to broaden Sentinel’s coverage across copyright management. The message is clear: in an era where AI tools produce content at scale, traceability is becoming a strategic imperative for the entire industry.

Spotify in full transformation: record figures, deep fractures

With over €17 billion in revenue in 2025 and 750 million active users, Spotify’s financial health looks impressive. But behind the subscription-driven performance, the platform is undergoing a profound shift — now integrating video, audiobooks and AI-generated content into its catalogue.

This evolution raises a fundamental question: what becomes of human artists’ visibility in an environment where automated creations are multiplying rapidly? A massive cyberattack in December 2025 cast a harsh light on another, less flattering reality: 86 million audio files were compromised, and the leaked data revealed that the vast majority of tracks on the platform attract only a handful of streams.

A small number of hugely popular titles captures the bulk of attention, leaving the mass of independent creations in the shadows.

This paradox — a monumental platform that is deeply unequal — illustrates the structural challenges independent artists face in the streaming economy.

Deezer: profitable, committed, and now an AI detection partner

Meanwhile, its French rival Deezer is on a roll. The platform has signed an agreement with Hungarian music rights organisation EJI, licensing its technology for detecting generative AI in recordings — a move that comes as a sign of reconciliation after past tensions between the two parties.

Deezer claims to already identify tens of thousands of AI-generated tracks every day. Its CEO, Alexis Lanternier, reaffirmed the platform’s commitment to protecting human musical creation. EJI director Pál Tomori echoed the sentiment, stressing that artists must give their consent and receive fair compensation whenever their work is used to train AI systems.

On the financial front, Deezer is posting historic profitability with a net profit of €8.5 million for the 2025 fiscal year, and has just launched “Deezer for Business,” a dedicated offering for professional clients.

Spotify and the majors vs. Anna’s Archive: the legal battle escalates

On the legal front, Spotify and the major record labels have asked a New York court to issue a default judgment against Anna’s Archive, an activist piracy organisation. The group is accused of stealing 86 million audio files in last December’s attack, and is said to have deliberately ignored the legal proceedings brought against it.

The sums at stake are enormous: the labels are seeking approximately $7.5 million each, while Spotify is demanding $300 million — with the possibility of claims running into the billions. A preliminary injunction had already forced the group to change domain names, without stopping its activities, which continue to be carried out anonymously.

The real-world impact of injunctions targeting internet service providers remains uncertain, in an ecosystem where anonymity remains a powerful weapon.

The plaintiffs are now seeking a permanent injunction targeting several domain names, and are calling on internet service providers to cut off all services to the group — a measure whose practical effectiveness remains to be seen, as piracy actors have consistently proven adept at reinventing themselves.

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