Spotify accidentally released a song that Blaze Foley never wrote

AI created a song called “Together” and attributed it to country singer Blaze Foley, who died in 1989. The track appeared on Spotify with a believable cover, metadata, and artist credit. Only after complaints from fans did the platform have to remove it.

• In July 2025, Spotify found itself at the center of a scandal again: this time, because of a deepfake that not only copied the artist’s style, but was presented as his real release. The song “Together” appeared in streaming via SoundOn (a service from TikTok), and looked quite convincing: the artwork, the artist’s name, the design — everything matched the official releases.
• Spotify removed the fake song only after a signal from the label and the fan community. A similar situation occurred with another country artist, Guy Clark, who was also credited with a non-existent song generated by AI. Real musicians are increasingly complaining that AI music is taking away their listeners, undermining trust, and even interfering with the estates of deceased artists, reducing their families’ income.

Blaze Foley was a cult figure in the US country scene who tragically died in 1989. A decade later, Spotify officially admits that it does not have an effective system for filtering artificially generated content masquerading as real tracks. And while the company says that “violators will be blocked,” there is still no clear policy on deepfake content.

Meanwhile, the platform already has an entire project — The Velvet Sundown, created entirely by AI, with over 1.5 million listeners per month.

This case demonstrates how deepfakes are no longer just “imitation voices”—they are invading cultural heritage. Spotify and other platforms must urgently implement transparent AI content labeling and verification mechanisms to protect the rights of musicians—both living and deceased.