TL;DR
Deezer launched Remix Lab, letting fans remix songs with in-app tools and artist consent while paying royalties, deliberately avoiding AI.
Deezer has launched Remix Lab, a feature that lets fans remix songs directly inside the app using in-app tools rather than artificial intelligence. The feature requires the explicit consent of the original artists and rights holders, and Deezer says artists get paid for every stream of the remixed tracks.
The tool is available on select artists’ pages within the Deezer app in France. Users can adjust tempo, add reverb, or make more substantial changes such as shifting a track’s genre or style, according to head of product Pierre Trochu.
The distinction Deezer is drawing is deliberate. Spotify, which has struggled with AI-generated content on its platform, signed a landmark licensing deal with Universal Music Group in May that lets Premium subscribers create AI-generated covers and remixes of participating artists’ catalogues. YouTube’s Dream Track programme uses Google’s AI to let creators restyle licensed songs through text prompts.
Deezer’s approach skips AI entirely. The remix tools are built into the app, and the results depend on what users do with tempo, effects, and style controls rather than what a generative model produces. The company frames this as consistent with its broader position against AI-generated music on streaming platforms.
Deezer launched a free tool earlier this month that scans playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, and other services for AI-generated tracks. The company says it receives nearly 75,000 fully AI-generated tracks every day, more than 44 percent of everything uploaded to the platform. It actively removes AI tracks from its recommendations and editorial playlists.
“This remix tool perfectly embodies our vision of offering a product that enriches the listening experience for fans, by allowing them to participate in the creative process and create a deeper connection with their favourite music,” CEO Alexis Lanternier said. He added that the features are “made possible with full participation of the artists, fully respecting rights, and maximising earnings for each track.”
The launch includes tracks from Celine Dion, Alain Souchon, Alonzo, Ronisia, Mosimann, Tiakola, and Zaho. Users can also enter contests through Deezer Club, with winning remixes featured in a dedicated Deezer playlist and winners receiving tickets to a Deezer Purple Door event along with artist merchandise. Contest winners will be announced in early September.
The feature is initially available only in France, with plans to expand to other countries. Deezer has not provided a timeline for the broader rollout.
The debate over how streaming services should handle remixes has split the industry. Spotify and Universal argue that AI-generated fan covers, built on a consent-credit-compensation framework, give artists a new revenue stream. Critics, including researchers interviewed by WBUR, counter that AI remixes flood platforms with more synthetic content and make it harder for human artists to gain traction in an already crowded market.
Deezer is betting on the other side of that argument. The company posted 132 million euros in first-quarter revenue, down slightly year over year, but grew its direct subscriber base nine percent to 5,700,000. It remains far smaller than Spotify, which gives it less to lose and more reason to differentiate.
Whether a non-AI remix tool limited to a handful of French artists can compete with the scale of Spotify’s AI-powered offering is an open question. But for a company that has built its recent identity around being the anti-AI-slop streaming service, Remix Lab is a consistent next step.
