Slop Tracker Website Tracks How Much Streaming Revenue Is Allocated To AI
- Michele
- 02 April 2026, Thursday
AI-generated music is affecting the distribution of streaming revenue. This article looks at Slop Tracker, a tool that estimates how much income synthetic tracks may be diverting from human artists.
Slop Tracker: Measuring AI’s Impact on Artist Revenue
The conversation on AI in music remains central to the music industry in 2026. Royalty allocation is one of the many points raised by artists, companies, and institutions alike, who all want their piece of the cake, or at least a say in how money flows. But how much money actually goes to people who create music with AI tools like Suno or Udio? Slop Tracker aims to answer that question.
The website was created by Thalamin, an artist who makes Native American flute music with his dad, to track how much money that would have gone to real artists is now being ‘drained’ by synthetic tracks. At the core of the endeavor lies the conviction that music is “one of the most beautiful and deeply human forms of expression” and that the dedication artists invest in their craft to build a career “deserves to be respected and rewarded.” Because synthetic music takes away a share of the revenue that real artists depend on, streaming platforms “need to address the flood of low-effort, AI-generated content.”
Moreover, it states that “AI models were trained on the work of real musicians, often without their knowledge or consent. The generated output now competes directly against the very artists whose creativity made it possible.”
Others, too, have found that AI content is causing significant issues. For example, on Deezer, AI-generated music accounts for roughly 39% of all daily uploads (around 60,000 tracks every day), and more than 13.4 million AI tracks were detected and tagged in 2025 alone. The problem is that a large percentage of the streams these tracks generate are fraudulent, which can reduce royalties for human artists. And while not all AI-generated tracks are created for fraud, clear labeling and transparency matter to many, which is exactly what Slop Tracker is trying to measure.
Read our article on Deezer’s AI music policy to learn more about the numbers and how the platform is handling synthetic music and protecting creators.
Slop Tracker: Measuring AI’s Impact on Artist Revenue
Slop Tracker currently lists 50 profiles and estimates the money they’ve generated on Spotify from their top 10 songs, their expected monthly income, and how many premium subscriptions have been drained per month. This matters because Spotify uses a pro-rata system, pooling subscription and ad revenue and distributing it based on each track’s share of total streams. The more a song is streamed, the bigger its payout. Because every stream counts, AI-generated tracks can dilute the pool and reduce earnings for human artists.
In addition, users can copy and paste a Spotify link to check whether a track is AI-generated. Only tracks with a ≥60% AI likelihood and ≥50% confidence are displayed. The platform uses spectral analysis to examine frequency patterns and temporal analysis to study timing and rhythmic micro-variations unique to human performance. Tracks are then classified as Human Made, Processed AI, or Pure AI, the latter being the easiest to detect. That said, Slop Tracker notes that “third-party mastering can affect results. This is one data point — not a final judgment.”
Final Thoughts: Slop Tracker and AI Music Royalties
Tools like Slop Tracker may provide insight into the impact of AI-generated music on the royalty pool, but they also highlight how difficult it is to fully understand its effect on the industry. Detection technologies are still evolving, and not every track can be clearly classified.
At the same time, the data points to a broader shift: as more AI-generated music enters streaming platforms, questions around revenue, ownership, and fair competition are becoming more urgent. For artists and rights holders, even small changes in how streams are distributed can have serious financial consequences.
This comes at a time when regulation is also starting to take shape. In March 2026, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on generative AI and copyright, calling for greater transparency in training data, fair remuneration for rights holders, and more control over how creative works are used. Tools like Slop Tracker reflect a growing need for clarity in the AI music space. And as both technology and regulation continue to evolve, that clarity will likely become an increasingly important part of how the industry adapts.
Michele is a Berlin-based writer passionate about music in its many forms, from soulful house and groovy techno to alternative rock, dark wave, and beyond. With experience in production, journalism, and DJing, they engage with the culture of sound from multiple perspectives. Their current topics of interest include club culture, music discovery & curation, dance, and the ways music affects perception & feeling. Michele writes in English.
