AI artists are already making millions from Spotify and YouTube – and they’re only getting bigger

AI-generated music isn’t just flooding streaming services anymore – it’s generating some serious money.

Just a day after Deezer revealed that AI tracks now account for more than 50 percent of all new daily uploads on its platform, a new study from Kapwing suggests the biggest AI music acts have already built audiences worth millions in streaming revenue.

Analysing data from Songstats and the AiMCharts database, Kapwing estimates that the 10 biggest AI artists have collectively generated around $6.1 million from more than 2.3 billion Spotify streams and YouTube views.

Spotify accounted for an estimated $2.38 million from roughly 595 million streams, while YouTube made up the lion’s share of the total, generating an estimated $3.7 million from 1.75 billion views.

Perhaps the most striking takeaway is that AI music has already outgrown its status as a novelty. According to the report, today’s biggest AI acts have amassed audiences in the tens of millions, landed hundreds of chart entries and secured spots on playlists followed by millions of listeners.

On Spotify, the highest-earning AI music artist is “1950s-style” vocalist Enlly Blue, whose estimated 95.2 million streams translate to roughly $380,800 in revenue.

Over on YouTube, Cherry 葵 Nightcore sits comfortably at the top, having generated an estimated $2 million from 941 million views.

Elsewhere, AI synth rock project Masters of Prophecy boasts the largest following across all major platforms at 36.1 million followers, while comedian King Willonius – whose AI-generated diss track BBL Drizzy went viral in 2024 – has amassed 500 chart entries across all platforms, the highest of any AI music act included in the study.

Producer Don Bnnr also emerged as one of AI music’s biggest success stories, with tracks appearing on 1,852 playlists with a combined follower count of 46.7 million listeners.

Taken together, the figures suggest AI music has already crossed a point of no return. The question is no longer whether AI music can attract listeners – it demonstrably can. The bigger challenge now is ensuring that human artists aren’t left competing on an increasingly uneven playing field.

The industry’s response reflects that shift. Rather than trying to stop AI music outright, streaming platforms and rights holders are increasingly accepting that the technology is here to stay, shifting their focus instead towards issues like transparency, attribution and monetisation.

In recent months alone, Deezer has expanded its AI music detection tools as uploads continue to surge, while industry bodies including the IFPI, RIAA and the Human Artistry Campaign have proposed a voluntary labelling system designed to distinguish fully AI-generated recordings from those merely assisted by AI. Meanwhile, Tidal has introduced AI music tagging while preventing fully AI-generated tracks from earning royalties on the platform.

Whether those measures will be enough to slow the AI music train remains to be seen.

Crystal Koe is a Singapore-based writer covering music and gear news for Guitar.com and MusicTech.com since 2021. A former choir kid with an unhealthy karaoke habit, she once ran an online store peddling earphones to strangers on the internet. Her music taste runs wide — from punk and pop-rock to cool jazz and creepy film scores — and she thinks everyone should listen to Kill The Poor by Dead Kennedys at least once before they die.