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Digital music and audio

October 2026

  • A young woman's hands browse rows of CDs in a shop, torso cropped out of frame

    ‘If you can’t hold it, you don’t own it’: why media fans want to escape algorithms with CDs, DVDs and vinyl

    People describe their return to physical media – whether to protect data, support artists, or retain control of one’s choices

September 2026

  • Musician KT Tunstall sings into microphone in dimly lit venue

    UK startup snares $20m to recreate gigs with ‘hyper-realistic’ digital avatars

    Unit1 hopes to offer lower cost version of shows such as Abba Voyage, showcasing living and dead artists in any venue

June 2026

  • This Is How the World Ends, directed by Robert dos Santos, is going straight to video.

    The Guardian view on the analogue resurgence: the shock of the old

    Editorial: Long-abandoned formats such as cassettes and VHS tapes are finding new life as consumers seek a digital detox

May 2026

  • Spotify logo is displayed on smartphone

    Spotify boss defends move to AI music, saying it is better than ‘slop’

    Streaming platform says remix tool agreed with Universal Music Group will protect artists from piracy
  • A tablet displaying the Spotify app with music genre categories sits on a wooden table beside a coffee cup

    Spotify and Universal Music agree deal to let subscribers create AI remixes

    Licensing agreement will allow listeners to use AI to create content on streaming platform for first time
  • Collage of some of the artists featured

    Spotify has ruined mood playlists – so our critics have made some better ones instead

    Whether made by human hand or shady algorithm, emotion-based playlists are everywhere. But if you’re looking for a superior soundtrack to ‘all the feels’, get your ears round these selections from our music writers

April 2026

  • A picture of a young woman with a green check mark on it.

    Spotify rolls out ‘Verified’ badge to distinguish human artists from AI

    Green checkmark will appear on artist profiles to signal they meet the platform’s standard for authenticity

January 2026

  • Spotify logo with silhouette of person with a microphone

    Partly AI-generated folk-pop hit barred from Sweden’s official charts

    Song that topped Swedish Spotify rankings ruled ineligible after elements of song revealed to be partly AI-made

December 2025

  • first dog moo deng

    First Dog on the Moon
    The best of: First Dog on the Moon cartoons 2025

    From Moo Deng’s birthday to how to leave Spotify, revisit five of the best strips by the Guardian Australia cartoonist
    Gallery5
  • Spotify logo behind a pair of earbuds

    Activist group says it has scraped 86m music files from Spotify

    Platform with 700m users says it is investigating after Anna’s Archive claims to have scraped tracks and metadata

    • ‘We are truly doomed’: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard despair at AI clone appearing on Spotify

    • I spent hours listening to Sabrina Carpenter this year. So why do I have a Spotify ‘listening age’ of 86?

    • double quotation markThis Spotify Wrapped season, don’t outsource your love of music to AI

      Liz Pelly

October 2025

  • Play on Victoria, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Victoria, Austraila - 30 Oct 2021Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by Richard Nicholson/REX/Shutterstock (12580101f) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard Stu Mackenzie, frontman of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, playing at Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne in 2021

    King Gizzard’s Stu Mackenzie on leaving Spotify and making all their music free: ‘Sometimes you just forget that you have free will’

    Australian band’s decision to remove catalogue in protest of CEO’s military investments an easy one, frontman says, and making music with friends remains ‘top of the triangle’
  • Beyoncé performing at Glastonbury festival

    Spotify partnering with multinational music companies to develop ‘responsible’ AI products

    Market-leading music streamer collaborating with the Sony, Universal and Warner music groups to create new AI features
  • Illustrations Of The Spotify Music Streaming App, Créteil, France - 29 Sep 2025Mandatory Credit: Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Shutterstock (15510161f) Green Spotify logo on a phone screenIllustrations Of The Spotify Music Streaming App, Créteil, France - 29 Sep 2025

    ‘Death to Spotify’: the DIY movement to get artists and fans to quit the music app

    Musicians have long criticized the streaming service’s paltry payouts, but a new wave of boycotts is emerging

September 2025

  • a man in tshirt speaks while seated on stage, a record player beside him

    Spotify founder Daniel Ek steps down from CEO role

    Ek founded Stockholm-based music streaming company nearly two decades ago and will stay on as executive chair
  • Spotify logo on a phone

    Spotify removes 75m spam tracks in past year as AI increases ability to make fake music

    Streamer to crack down on AI-generated spam by introducing filter to identify fraudulent uploads
  • Massive Attack performing in 2024.

    Massive Attack remove music from Spotify to protest against CEO Daniel Ek’s investment in AI military

    The band cited a ‘moral and ethical burden’ placed on artists by revenue from their work ultimately funding lethal technologies

August 2025

  • EscapeSpotifypixie

    First Dog on the Moon
    Everyone loves music but nobody loves music apps. It’s time to leave Spotify

    Capitalism ruins everything
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