Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles composer Kumi Tanioka has spoken out about an album attributed to her on Spotify. The problem? She had nothing to do with it.
Posting on X, Tanioka expressed confusion around the situation, asking whether a Spotify EP attributed to her – titled A Village Built on Wind – was made by someone with the same name or if it was created using generative AI. She wrote: “This album is definitely not something I made”.
Tanioka is a verified artist on Spotify, meaning the service has deemed her an “authentic” creator. Yet the EP was assigned to Tanioka nonetheless, despite her seemingly having no part in adding it to the platform.
She is not alone in her confusion. Digital Sonic Design, the publisher of some of her music, issued a statement saying that while these tracks did not infringe the copyright of Tanioka’s work, these songs had the potential to confuse the public due to their false attribution to Tanioka. The company also pointed to YouTube music, where the songs have been labeled as AI-generated.
The statement concludes: “This appears to be a case exploiting systemic vulnerabilities in streaming service platforms, and since there have been past instances of unofficial unreleased tracks being recreated via ear copying and distributed, it prompts us to consider some form of response.