Spotify eyes Q1 2027 for AI remix tool at $4 to $5 a month

Spotify plans to launch its AI covers and remixes tool in the first quarter of 2027, the Financial Times reported on Friday, October 30, citing people familiar with the plans. The company is weighing a price of $4 to $5 per month on top of existing subscription fees. Neither the timing nor the price is final, the FT’s sources cautioned, and Spotify declined to comment.

The product could be unveiled around the Grammy Awards in February. The 69th ceremony is set for February 7, 2027.

The tool lets paying subscribers use AI to make their own versions of songs by artists who have opted in. The FT’s examples: turning a folk song into a dance track, or making a version that sounds as if a different artist is covering it. Royalties from fan-made remixes would go to the artists behind the original songs. Spotify is also building a way to put remixes in playlists, with their plays credited to the original tracks on its charts.

Four deals signed, two majors outstanding

Universal Music Group was first. It announced an agreement covering recorded music and publishing on May 21 at Spotify’s Investor Day in New York. Merlin followed on August 4 and Kobalt on August 13. Believe signed on October 20, covering participating artists and labels at Believe and its self-release platform TuneCore. Announcing that deal, Spotify and Believe described the tool as “designed specifically for AI-powered remixes and covers, not entirely new works.” The FT drew the same line between it and generators like Suno, which build new songs from text prompts.

Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group are still in negotiation. Spotify has said it can launch without them. On the Q2 2026 earnings call on August 4, Co-CEO Gustav Söderström said: “So the answer is we do not need a deal with all the majors.” He added: “We would like to have as many artists as possible, obviously, but we don’t expect to have all artists.” The next step, he said then, would be a research preview for a subset of users, with a launch “when it’s ready.”

A label deal does not settle participation. Artists decide for themselves, even when their label has licensed its catalog. Spotify and Universal have been meeting individual artists to bring catalogs in, and one person told the FT that today’s major stars have been harder to sign than some veteran acts. Universal-signed Olivia Rodrigo, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about AI in her own music rather than Spotify’s tool, said: “I would never use AI in any of my music.” She called it a “hard line.”

Söderström has pitched the tool as income for older catalogs. At the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 9, he said: “If one of your fans creates a remix of your song, that actually increases the share of the streaming pool that you get.”

One of several add-ons

The tool is one of several products Spotify is building to earn more from its most engaged users. At Investor Day it also introduced Reserved, which holds two tour tickets for each of an artist’s most dedicated Premium fans ahead of the general sale. Live Nation was the launch partner, and Reserved went live in the US in June. Spotify set a target there of mid-teens compound annual revenue growth at constant currency through 2030.

Q3 2026 revenue rose 16% year over year (14% at constant currency) to €4.97 billion ($5.72 billion). Premium subscribers reached 306 million at the end of September. Bernstein analyst Ian Moore told the FT he estimates 7% to 8% of Spotify’s US subscribers could sign up for the AI tool by the end of 2028, and that paid add-ons could help the company hit its growth targets.

Spotify has floated a paid upgrade before. In February 2025, Bloomberg reported that Spotify was considering up to $5.99 a month on top of Premium for a “Music Pro” tier, with AI remix features among the possible perks. Details of the current plan are in Music Business Worldwide’s report.