Spotify expands AI remix and covers project as Merlin joins Universal in backing the tool

Spotify said on Tuesday that Merlin, which represents more than 30,000 independent labels and distributors, has joined Universal Music Group in backing its upcoming AI-powered remix and covers product. The move brings a large slice of the independent music world into a project that has so far leaned on support from the major labels.

According to TechCrunch, the paid tool will let fans create AI-generated covers and remixes of participating artists' music, while ensuring artists opt in, receive credit, and are compensated. This makes it a licensed, revenue-sharing experiment rather than an open-ended AI remix free-for-all.

Merlin's backing matters because the organization speaks for a huge part of the recorded-music ecosystem outside the three major labels. More than 30,000 independent labels and distributors sit under its umbrella, so its decision effectively determines whether independent catalogs reach Spotify's AI remix tool.

Universal Music Group had already publicly backed the effort, and now the representative body for independents has followed. The emerging consensus suggests AI covers and remixes are moving from a legally fraught gray zone toward a monetized, opt-in business model.

AI covers and remixes have been one of the music industry's most sensitive topics. Fans love creating them, but rights holders fear unauthorized AI copying will erode artist income. Spotify's approach — a paid tool built on artist authorization — is an attempt to reconcile those two pressures.

For Spotify, the project is as much about rebuilding trust with rights holders as it is about product innovation. By signing on Merlin, Spotify gains a credible route to AI-powered fan engagement across the independent sector, not just the majors.

The open questions are when the product launches, how opt-in and compensation mechanics work in practice, and whether more labels follow. The business-model battle over AI music tools is only beginning.