Sony Music sought removal of more than 260,000 AI deepfake tracks

The figure is a count of requests Sony made to platforms, not a verified tally of removals completed by those services.[2] It refers to deepfakes linked to Sony artists, rather than every AI-generated track available on streaming platforms.[2] That distinction matters when assessing the scale of the problem: the reported total tracks Sony’s enforcement requests, not the amount of content still online or the full volume of AI music.[2] Sony’s reported total was 135,000 at the end of March and more than 260,000 by the end of September.[1]

The increase represents at least 125,000 additional requests over six months.[2] Sony described unauthorised generative-AI tracks imitating its artists as occurring at scale, and said the situation was becoming an uphill struggle.[1] The recordings imitate artists’ voices or likenesses, with Harry Styles, Adele, Britney Spears, Queen and Michael Jackson among those targeted.[2] Sony says deepfake tracks harm artists, mislead fans and undermine ethical AI use.[3]

Sony says it will continue enforcing artists’ rights and expects platforms to act quickly on requests.[1] It also expects services to stop the same content from reappearing.[1] The company’s stated concern is therefore not just the initial presence of imitations, but also whether platforms respond promptly and prevent repeat appearances.[1]

The reported deepfake requests sit alongside other concerns about AI music and streaming, but the figures describe different things.[2] Deezer reported that fully AI-generated music exceeded half of its daily uploads on peak days in June, with about 90,000 such tracks delivered per day on average.[2] Deezer said those tracks accounted for only 1 to 3 percent of listening, and that up to 85 percent of streams attached to them in 2025 were fraudulent.[2] Separately, Sony is a plaintiff in a US copyright case against Suno concerning alleged use of recordings to train AI systems; that case is distinct from fake releases using artists’ identities.[2]