Lorde Criticizes Spotify’s AI “About the Song” Feature, Saying, “We Don’t Want This”

Spotify is facing public pushback from singer Lorde over a new music feature that uses artificial intelligence to provide context for tracks playing on the streaming service. In comments reported by Deadline on July 18, Lorde questioned the decision to surface AI-generated explanations to listeners without the involvement of the artists whose work is being described.

The feature at the center of the dispute is Spotify’s “About the Song,” which Spotify has said is in beta. According to Deadline, the feature was released earlier this year and is designed to collect details about a particular song, then present them to users as “context” while they stream.

Deadline reported that Lorde directed her criticism at Spotify directly, including the statement, “We don’t want this.” The article also described her addressing Spotify with an admonition to stop, quoting a message that begins, “Hey Spotify, I’m gonna …” The report frames Lorde’s comments as an artist complaint about the feature’s use of AI and outside inputs to describe songs.

The dispute highlights a key tension in streaming-era music distribution: who controls the narrative around a work once it is made available to audiences through large platforms. In this case, Deadline reported that “About the Song” draws information from third-party sources, which the feature then uses to generate the on-screen material presented to listeners.

Spotify has not been described in the Deadline report as agreeing to pause the rollout or changing the underlying data approach. As presented in the coverage, the feature remains in beta, meaning it is still undergoing platform testing and iteration rather than being fully locked into a final form.

For listeners, the “About the Song” panel is meant to add background on tracks, but for artists, the question is whether AI-generated descriptions created from external information can misstate, overstep, or misrepresent the intent behind a recording. Lorde’s objection, as reported, positions the issue as an artist consent and control matter rather than a purely technical product update.

The next step in the matter will depend on whether Spotify responds publicly to Lorde’s criticism and whether the company changes how the feature sources information or whether it restricts what can be shown for specific catalog or artists. For now, the reported conflict remains centered on the feature’s premise, its beta status, and the singer’s request that the platform discontinue use of what she characterized as unwanted AI context.